Welcome to the Heartland
by Oliversgurl
Summary: Plagued by a life-threatening condition that has forced him to acknowledge the reality of his mortality, twenty-three year old Gabriel Milton has all but given up on the possibility of leading a worthwhile life, much less having any chance at a healthy relationship. Cue one Sam Winchester: bright, hopeful, success-bound.(continued inside the first chapter)
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Plagued by a life-threatening condition that has forced him to acknowledge the reality of his mortality, twenty-three year old Gabriel Milton has all but given up on the possibility of leading a worthwhile life, much less having any chance at a healthy relationship. Cue one Sam Winchester: bright, hopeful, success-bound. Reluctant as he is to begin something he might not be able to finish, Gabriel soon finds that he can't scare Sam away so easily and, what's even more alarming, he doesn't exactly want to.

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(This is also co-written! So forgive the wonky styles! We don't own the boys!)

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MAIN Pairings: Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Adam Milligan/Anna Milton

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WARNINGS: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH. Alternate Universe - Human, Romance, Fluff, Angst, Big Brother Lucifer

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"What's all this, then?"

Gabriel stepped into the petite coffee shop to find that his usual corner table had already been disturbed-the chair was pulled out ever so slightly, and a newspaper was neatly folded beside a large, steaming drink-yet nobody was sitting there. After giving the place a quick once-over, he sighed in mild frustration; everything was already taken, just his luck. For a few moments, the blond simply hung back, clutching his laptop to his side as he waited for a table to open up. Everyone seemed pretty set in their places today, chatting excitedly amongst themselves between unnecessarily loud slurps. Things were looking grim.

However, Gabriel wasn't one to give up easily. Eyes narrowed just a bit, he kept tabs on his spot-yes, he had every right to refer to it as such, he'd been sitting there almost every week day for the last half a year-as he headed for the bar.

"Excuse me, but who's sitting over there?" he asked matter-of-factly, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the corner table. The barista, a young man named Samandriel, who'd come to know Gabriel relatively well as the months slipped by, laughed a little. "You know nobody sits there but you."

"Exactly! That's why I wanna know what wiseguy stole my spot, so I can give him a piece of my mind." Gabriel tapped his fingers impatiently against the counter, his dramatics pulling another laugh from Samandriel's lips.

"The 'wiseguy' is actually sitting over there," the barista motioned to a table near the window, occupied by a young, but notably tall, brunet man, "and he came in about five minutes before you did. Asked me to get the table ready, even knew your favorite tea."

"Seriously?" Gabriel looked from Samandriel to the brunet stranger, then, pulling his sleeves back as if he really planned to start a fight, he set his laptop down-"Guard this with your life!"-and headed over to his unknown admirer.

"You! Yes, you! Would you like to tell me what that is all about?" Cue more dramatic pointing at the corner table.

The young man looked up from the book he was reading with an expression of mild panic. "Uhh…" His eyes darted back and forth, from Gabriel to the door and back, as if gauging the distance and time it would take to get out of there. "I… I just wanted to do something nice," he ducked his head, and a blush spread over his cheeks, "you're always sitting over there alone, and I thought that, maybe, you might like it to be set up when you got here?" He grinned nervously. "I'm sorry if I did something wrong."

Gabriel, genuinely surprised by the stranger's sincerity, was struck speechless for a few seconds, an occasion that did not occur often. Then, he cleared his throat, retaliating with, "Really, you don't have to apologize; it was but a minor offence. You see, you folded the newspaper like this," he took a napkin from the table to demonstrate, "when I actually prefer it folded in the opposite direction." He refolded the napkin accordingly and set it down by the tall man's drink. "No harm done." Chuckling to himself, Gabriel smoothed back his hair and proceeded to head over to his own table.

The young man hesitated a moment, running his hands through his hair before he half-stood from his seat and practically shouted, "W-wait!" Then, he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "I kind of wanted to see what you're always working on over there. Are you a student over at the college?" His smile was open, honest, and friendly, even as he gnawed his bottom lip with obvious nervousness.

Snorting a little, Gabriel took his seat, pushing out a chair for the stranger with the toe of his shoe. "Nah, I'm not a student, I'm a musician, and I'm writing songs; it's kind of what we do." He moved to open up his laptop, only to realize it was still at the counter with Samandriel. Following an extremely exaggerated growl, Gabriel asked, "Say, Gigantor, you think you can go get my laptop from the barista, since you haven't sat yet and all?"

The young man, who was indeed quite tall, sheepishly went to fetch the offending piece of equipment. When he returned, he set it down gently in front of Gabriel and took the seat right across from him with a smile. "My name's Sam; uh, Samandriel told me yours," his blush made a grand comeback, "I know, that's kind of creepy, sorry. You just seem so intense while you're working; I could not help but be nosy."

"Hey, it's not everyday I have a polite stalker," Gabriel rested his hands on his closed laptop, grinning toothily at Sam, "How much did you have to pay him to dig up dirt on me, hm? Oh, I do hope he didn't tell you too much-it'd be a shame to have to kill a good buddy, and a stranger with a pretty face on the same day. Talk about putting a damper on my week, 'ey Sam?" He liked the way the other's name rolled off of his tongue, though he could not quite put his finger on why. It was a bit short, but, no matter-practically a nickname genie, Gabriel could fix that easily.

"I did no such thing," Sam put his huge hands up in defense, "He was quite chatty about your preferred drink and more than willing to help me set your table up." He, too, grinned. "When I asked him if he had anything else to say about you, he told me that you were charming, and that I should just talk to you, instead of sitting over at my usual spot and 'mooning' over you. His words, not mine." He laughed. "Glad you think I'm cute too, though. That's one thing he wouldn't tell me, and I didn't want to get punched for hitting on a straight guy." The words came easier, and his nervousness decreased the longer he sat there. Something about finally taking the initiative brought out his more charming side.

As Sam spoke, Gabriel glanced in the direction of the bar and gave Samandriel, who was wiggling his eyebrows encouragingly, the evil eye. Then, lips pursed slightly, he turned back to Sam, his fingers tapping in rhythm with the music that faintly played in the coffee shop. "So, Samandriel's trying to play matchmaker, is he? Ha! I'll be sure to send an old hag his way in thanks." He reached over and grabbed his drink, taking a fairly large swig of it. "Mm, got it sweetened the right amount, I'll give you two that. By the way, don't let your guard down yet; I may not be as straight as you feared, but I still might punch you!"

Sam looked Gabriel over appraisingly. "I'm not sure you've got the stuff to land a punch on me," he smirked, "You're what, a foot shorter than I am? I'm sure all I'd have to do is keep you at arm's length, and you'd be helpless." He raised one eyebrow, "And sending him a hag? That's a terribly rude thing to do to a friend that's trying to set you up with me. I'll be sending him thank you letters for eternity for helping me get up the courage to talk to someone as good-looking as you." Sam took a sip of his own drink, watching Gabriel from over the rim of his cup.

"Ya know, I'm no expert, but, if you're attempting to ask me out, I'm pretty sure you're doing it wrong." The look Gabriel gave Sam was nothing short of challenging. "Insulting my height? That was low, especially for someone of your size and stature. Besides, I'm not too sure you'll be thanking him quite as much as you think; he basically set you up for failure." With a shrug, the blonde opened up his laptop and switched it on, the blue glow of the start screen lighting up his face.

Sam laughed, "Who said I wanted to ask you out right now?" He cocked a brow, "Maybe I'm just trying to lure you into a false sense of security before springing the question on you later?" He shrugged, "Either way, I really would like to get to know you. You've got this whole 'mystery man' vibe going on in your little batcave over here." Then, he laughed again, "Anyway, I'm the freak here; your height is perfect."

"Oooh, nice save," Gabriel glanced up from his laptop, typing even as he met Sam's eyes, "maybe you're not as much of a dick as I originally thought. Then again, I'm not really one to talk." His fingers stilled, and he slanted the screen down just a tad, giving the brunet his attention. "You want to know about me, huh? Well, it might come as a surprise, but I'm not exactly the open book I sometimes make myself out to be. How about you start with some questions, yeah, kiddo? I'll shoot some your way as well, to be fair. Can't let you have all the fun, after all."

"I would never dream of denying you your fun," Sam took a sip from his coffee. "How about this: we alternate questions. You know, I ask, then you, then back to me, and so on, and so forth. Sound good?" he laughed, "Just pretend we're...speed dating! I've got to leave for class in half an hour anyway. So fire away, I've got nothing to hide." He folded his arms on the table and assumed an attentive expression.

"Yeah, all right." Gabriel leaned in, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he thought. "Well, how about you tell me your age? Gotta start somewhere, right, and it's always better to get the basics out of the way." He chuckled a little, mentally crossing his fingers that Sam was older than his boyish face suggested. He'd mentioned having to go to class, so he had to be in college, right?

Sam looked down at the table for a moment before his eyes flicked back up to meet Gabriel's. He licked his lips and gave a sheepish grin, "I'm 19. This is my second year of pre-law. What about you? How old are you?" There was a hopeful look on his face, as if asking Gabriel to not be put off by his youth.

"See, you tried to play it cool by using your height, but I saw it in your eyes; you're still a baby." Gabriel clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, watching Sam with playful curiosity. "How old am I? Heh, well, how old do you think I am? I'll give you three guesses, then we move on to the next question."

"A baby? Really?" Sam rolled his eyes. "You can't be too much older than I am." he eyeballed Gabriel suspiciously. "Tell me if I need to go higher or lower, 22?"

Gabriel grunted and shook his head, but didn't give Sam any indicator of whether he was too low or too high. It was a game to him, and he was going to milk this stranger for all he could. Honestly, he wasn't even looking to get a date out of this, he just needed a distraction from reality for a little while.

"You gotta give me something here, man." Sam folded his arms and made a frustrated pout. "Fine. Next one up then, 23?"

"Congratulations," the blond slow clapped for Sam, leaning back in his seat, "you didn't even have to use your third chance. Beginners luck, I say, but nevermind. Anyway, three years may not seem like much, but I'm still your elder in one way or another! I'm sure I've had a lot of," he paused, rolling his shoulders a little, "experiences that you haven't, so...Next question! Got any siblings?"

"I've got two. An older brother, he's your age, and a younger half brother. The legacy of my father's misspent youth." Sam chuckled. "Adam's a good kid though, wants to become a doctor. Dean? I don't even know what Dean wants to do." He shrugged his shoulders. "So, what made you get into music and songwriting?" It's not that he didn't want to know about Gabriel's family, but it wasn't as important as gathering more information on the man himself.

Tapping his fingers against his chin, Gabriel considered Sam's question for a moment before answering, "Music has just been...one of the few consistencies in my life, cliche as that sounds. I mean, you can write songs about almost anything, in pretty much any situation, ya know? One time, I got inspired by a toaster." The grin that followed made it hard to tell whether or not Gabriel was joking; then again, that's how it was with half of the things that came out of his mouth. That's how he wanted it. "Why'd you decide to go into law?"

The noise that came out of Sam's mouth was not a giggle, it was a manly chuckle. "A toaster? I'd love to hear that one." At Gabriel's question, he leaned back in his seat. "Well… it's about as far away from what my dad wanted me to do as possible. Dad wanted me to go into something I could do with my hands-welding, carpentry, mechanic, things like that. I've always wanted to do something worthwhile though. Defend the innocent, that kind of thing." He made a humming noise low in his throat. "So, blood orange tea? Where'd you acquire the taste for that?"

"Well, I had to order something-I practically live at this coffee shop and, the irony of it is, I can't even drink coffee." He reached forward and grabbed his tea, taking a gulp of it and then wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "Wh-What I mean is, I guess I just never really acquired a taste for the stuff. It's just a bunch of bitter beans that stunt your growth and, as you can see, I'm short enough as it is." Gabriel played off the slight stutter he'd let slip at the start of his sentence with the end remark; casually, he ran his fingers through his hair, readjusting the part. "I swear, if you tell me coffee is your drink of choice, and it actually has the opposite effect, I'm going to be so pissed. What is your favorite thing to order here, anyway?"

Curiosity lit a fire in Sam's brain, but he reined it in and filed the tidbit away. No such thing as useless information, after all. "I actually can't stand coffee. Dean drinks it black every morning." He hummed thoughtfully, "So far, my favorite's been their Chai, but I'm working my way through the menu. I was so surprised to find this place had decent tea supply instead of just coffee." He took a sip of his drink. "The one I'm having today is uh… what did they call it… A lapsang something or the other. It tastes like a campfire," he made a face, "it's almost a little too strong for me. What about you? Have you tried anything else or did you just find a good thing and stick with it."

"Generally, I stick to it, but, sometimes, when I'm feeling extra daring, I get something new," Gabriel replied, twisting a strand of hair around his finger, "How long have you been swooning over me from afar, hm?"

Sam grinned, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks. "I've been coming to this place for about six months, but I only noticed you sitting by your lonesome in the last two, and I've been trying to gather up the courage to talk to you for the last two weeks. That's when I hounded Samandriel about your usual." He chuckled, "One of the others who works here, Meg? Told me not to bother, that you were antisocial and rude. I'm glad I decided to not listen to her." He took another sip of his tea. "So, about your music; who sings it when you're done?"

"I sing it, of course," Gabriel proclaimed proudly, cocking a brow at Sam, "do you really think I'd write for someone else? Hell no! They'd just screw it up. My music is basically all I have, I'm not about to take that chance." His answer had come off as just short of defensive, however, his mannerisms were slacked, as if purposely trying to cancel out the passion expressed by his words. "I haven't exactly performed anything yet-not officially anyway-if that's what you're asking, but trust me, buddy-boy, I'm working on it!" He crossed his arms, fingers tapping against his upper arm. Then, casually, "Do you sing?"

That question startled a laugh out of Sam, and he winked, "Only in the shower and when no one can hear me in the car. The acoustics suck in my dorm room." He laughed again. "I could always give it a try though. My ex told me I had a good voice, but it was never something I thought I could do." He leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful expression and chewed on his bottom lip, trying to think of another question. "All right, favorite movie genre?"

"Comedy, no competition; I love watching people make absolute fools out of themselves for the sake of pulling even a single laugh from their audience." There was a little twinkle in Gabriel's eyes, suggesting that he was probably recalling some fond memory pertaining to the subject. "What about you? Please don't tell me you're one of those drama guys, those things can be downright depressing."

"Dramas are good in moderation," Sam protested. "My favorite?" he smiled sheepishly, "Kaiju movies. You know, Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah; that sort of thing." The took a quick look at his watch. "Nuts. I've gotta get going to class. Maybe I'll see you here tomorrow?" There was an overeager hopefulness to his expression.

"Hey, that's your call, kid; you know where to find me." Gabriel waved him off, pushing his laptop screen up once again. "Now, go on, get outta here before you're late for your fancy-smancy law class."

Sam flashed him a blinding smile and jogged from the small shop. In his excitement, he realized he'd left his notebook behind, but, by then, class had already started, and it was too late. He stared at the professor with a look of undisguised boredom and thunked his head on the desk, content to just ignore this class for today.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the next few days, Sam did not miss a single opportunity to come visit the coffee shop, much to Gabriel's surprise. He had invested some serious devotion into a stranger; then again, he was studying to be a lawyer. Gabriel teased Sam about it all the time too, jokingly bringing up how he was simply practice for the difficult clients Sam would have to defend in the future.

Their talks never went too deep, but the blond enjoyed them that way; it was refreshing. Needless to say, he was getting less and less songwriting done, but that wasn't too big a deal, as he'd been in a bit of a slump lately anyway. Who knows, maybe their ridiculous debates on who would win in a fight between Godzilla and King Kong would serve as some needed inspiration, even more than, say, a toaster, or the long hours Gabriel spent in the coffee shop, just watching people go about their busy lives.

Sam slid, breathless, into his seat. "Sorry I'm late! I had Dean on the phone, he was telling me about an accident Adam had. Seems he fell out of a tree and broke his wrist. Dad wants me to come home for the weekend and give the baby some attention." He rolled his eyes. "If I tried to baby that boy, he'd castrate me, I'm sure."

"What the hell was he doing in a tree anyway, trying to hook up with a Lemur?" Gabriel snorted at his own dumb joke, pushing his laptop screen down as Sam sat. "You gonna go this weekend?"

"Probably not." Sam leaned back and picked at his napkin. "I might go next weekend, or I might just blackmail Dean into driving out to visit me." He shrugged. "As for Adam, seems like the kid was trying to rescue a kitten or something. The kitten made it down fine. Adam slipped on a branch and hit the dirt," he laughed, "guess it runs in the family. I slipped and fell out of that tree too."

Another snort. "You guys sound like quite the heroes. Next time I'm stuck in a tree, I'll make sure I give you a call." Gabriel leaned back, resting his leg on his knee and clutching at his calf with both hands. "Still, sounds more interesting than my usual weekend, so I shouldn't talk."

"Oh?" Sam put both arms on the table and leaned forwards, interested. "And what does your usual weekend consist of, hrm?" He raised his eyebrows and curled his lips in a half grin.

"Oh, ya know...basically nothing. I usually sit up in my room and pass the time with my extensive DVD collection. Sometimes, I go to the park, because it gets stuffy, or my brother takes me somewhere for lunch, but, generally, it's pretty uninteresting. Depressing, even." He shrugged and stretched a little, taking a sip of his drink. "What about you? Do you just spend all your time studying or...what? I have no idea what you college students even do."

"I study and spend a lot of time watching TV." Sam laughed. "There's a new show on FOX, I'm hooked. It's a space western. I can't wait to see where they take it." Then he backtracked, "Wait, brother? Does this mean I can finally ask you about your family?"

"You mean you're interested in those clowns? As if I'm not bad enough!" Gabriel rubbed the side of his nose with the back of his hand and yawned a little. "And, for the record, I have more than one brother, a couple sisters too."

"Of course I'm interested; you're interesting, and they're part of you, so... Big family?" Sam's smile turned wistful. "My mom always wanted daughters, and I always wondered what it would be like to have sisters instead of brothers. What are they like?"

"Yeah, kinda, there's six of us, and I'm smack in the middle, so to speak-two older brothers and an older sister, and a younger brother and younger sister." The smaller man tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, his expression unreadable. "Sisters are nice, depending on how you look at it. My older sister is a cold-hearted bitch, but the younger one is sweet, so, it really just depends."

"Damn, that is a big family." He half reached out to Gabriel over the table, but stopped and drew back, nervous. "I guess you just win some and lose some, right? How old is everyone? Care to tell their names?" He raised his eyebrows in a vaguely hopeful expression.

In response, Sam received a half-shrug. "If you're really interested, I guess I can tell you."

He tapped his chin. "Michael is the eldest-he's thirty and took over our father's company after he, y-ya know, passed." There was an obvious nervousness there, but maybe it was just because Gabriel was talking about his deceased father. He paused and licked his dry lips, before continuing, "I'm still not sure exactly what the company does, but, if I'm not mistaken, it's involved in sales and something to do with the stock market." Of course, Gabriel was being vague on purpose; he didn't know shit about businesses, and he didn't want to sound too out of touch with the world.

"Raphael, twenty-eight, is second eldest, and she's the only one of us that's adopted. My parents were her godparents, I guess; long story short, things turned sour for them, and we took her in. She's...never really liked me much, but, luckily, she's been so caught up in school and her part-time teaching gig, I rarely have to deal with her unpleasantness." The blond chuckled, shifting positions so his left leg was atop his right, instead of the other way around. "Then, there's Lucifer-he's the brother I mentioned earlier, who takes me to lunch and stuff. No, I don't have any grand story about how he got his name, but, I can tell you that he's twenty-seven and studying to be a doctor." The fondness in his voice was unmistakable. "Oh, and he's my favorite brother, in case you were wondering." And there it was, a blatant confirmation.

"Thus, we get to the best of the list: moi. Gabriel Milton, twenty-three, unemployed; that is, unless you count masterful backsassing a profession." Gabriel gave a little wave and a wink. "Anyway, moving on. Castiel is eighteen and probably the most literal high school senior you will ever meet. Seriously, one time he asked me why one of his friend's kept mentioning keeping up with the Joneses, because, and I quote, 'he doesn't know of anyone with the surname Jones who is that far ahead of them.' Ah, typical Cas. Gotta love him, though; he's a real sweet kid." The blond paused to take a quick swig of his tea.

"Anna is the baby of the family. She's fourteen and an exceedingly bright, social freshman. I swear, she has more friends than I have songs and, believe you me, Samsquatch, that's saying something!" He uncrossed his legs and slumped down in his chair slightly, making him appear even smaller than usual, especially with Sam sitting across from him. "And...yeah, that's about it."

Sam was speechless for a few moments, then, he reached out across the table to lay his massive hand over Gabriel's smaller one. "They sound like a great family, for the most part." He smiled encouragingly at the man across the table from him, and then blinked. "Wait, Raphael? You said she teaches? Dark, shoulder-length hair? Cheekbones sharp enough to slice through steel? That Raphael?" When Gabriel grimaced and nodded, the brunet huffed out a laugh, "Oh, man, she's my history teacher. That class I had to dash to the first day we met?" He snorted, "She always looks like she's been chewing on a lemon, and she acts like she hates us all the time."

"That's because she probably does hate you all," Gabriel chimed in.

Sam laughed again, "Oh the wonders of a small college town." He rubbed his thumb along Gabriel's wrist, and, noticing that the blond seemed a bit distant suddenly, quietly asked, "You all right?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm good, just…thinking, is all." Gabriel lifted his head to look at Sam, realizing that he'd let his eyes drop to where the taller man's hand warmly rested on his own. Shivering, he rolled his shoulders back, being careful not to draw his hand back. He wasn't used to getting this kind of attention from another person, apart from his siblings; it was strange, but he could not deny that it was also nice.

Sam cleared his throat, feeling his cheeks heat up. His eyes flicked restlessly from Gabriel's face to their hands, and he started to chew on his bottom lip. "Gabriel? I, uh…" he swallowed and tried again, "I've only ever done this once so," cue the nervous laugh, "uhm. Let me take you out on a date? There's a new action flick coming out on Friday and I wanted..." he struggled with the words, "I wanted to take you out to dinner too. Please?" He put on his very best puppy dog expression.

"Sam, I…"

Little red flags were popping up in Gabriel's head and, for a few seconds, his breath caught in his throat. Over the brief amount of time they'd spent together, they'd joked about dating on more than one occasion. Yet, when Sam brought it up in all seriousness, Gabriel was caught completely off guard-no witty remark, not even a scoff or an eyeroll, just silence. Well, as silent as it could be with his heartbeat pounding rapidly in his ears.

Somehow, Gabriel was able to pull himself back into reality and, when he did, he immediately averted eye contact.

"I j-just don't think it would be a good idea."

Sam drew back, crushed. "Gabriel, please?" He moved his hand from its resting position and curled his fingers around Gabriel's fingers; he'd never stopped stroking the smaller man's skin with his thumb. "Please, just one date? Let's see where it goes, and, if its a disaster, we can go right back to being friends, I swear." He squeezed his hand briefly. "At least give me a chance, man."

Gabriel's fingers trembled slightly within Sam's grip, and, all the while, his pulse danced wildly against the gentle rub of the other man's thumb; that aside, he'd managed to compose himself fairly decently. "A-All right, all right, bu-but only because you're so damn cute with those sappy eyes of yours! One date, I make no other promises! What time?"

Sam did his best to restrain the excitement coursing through him, though his grin stretched his lips so wide, it was almost painful. "Really?! Oh, oh man. Uh. Uhm." He had clearly not thought this far ahead. "Oh. The movie starts at nine, but I want to get dinner first so… Six? Does that sound good? We can meet up at…" he paused, "well, where would you like to go?"

"You want to meet at the diner just across the way here? It's simple to find, easy to get to, and, most importantly, the food is seriously great. I can even get us a discount, I know one of the managers." Gabriel beamed and, unable to help but feed off of Sam's excitement, he could feel himself getting hyped up as well. "That is, as long as you don't mind a diner, rather than some super high class restaurant." He shrugged.

Sam, having never stopped smiling, squeezed his hand again. "The diner sounds perfect. Did you forget, I'm just a college kid relying on mostly meal plans?" He laughed, "That's it then. We'll meet at the diner at six." He bit his lip, "We really should exchange cell numbers, just in case something happens." He didn't let go of Gabriel's hand though.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Gabriel agreed, sliding one hand over to grab a napkin and retrieve a pen from his pocket. He scribbled down his number and ripped the napkin in half, handing Sam the piece with his number on it. "You can just call me or something before Friday, and I'll save your number." He glanced at Sam's hands, which seemed to have no intention of moving. "Or, ya know, if you want to be secretive, that's cool too," the blond waggled his eyebrows playfully, "I can dig that, Sam, I can dig that."

And, without really even having to think about it, Gabriel felt as if Sam was one of those people that he honestly wouldn't mind having around for a while.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam stumbled through his Friday classes in a bit of a haze, barely noticing when Raphael wasn't there to teach history that afternoon. Four o'clock had him showering, and, half an hour later, he was prodding at blackheads and staring at his reflection in the mirror. At five, he was already dressed and pacing in his living room. At five-thirty, he could no longer stand it and set himself up in one of the outside tables, watching the people as they strolled past.

At six, his excitement had his stomach churning so badly, he thought he might vomit. At six-thirty, that same excitement began to wane, and disappointment took its place. He pulled his phone from his pocket and stared at it. No missed calls. He hesitated for a moment before tapping out Gabriel's name, listening to the ringing as the call connected.

The phone seemed to ring for an eternity, each one making Sam feel sicker. What if Gabriel had blown him off on purpose? He had kind of turned Sam down at first, after all. Just the mere thought of it hurt but, another, more hopeful side told him he was being paranoid; there was no way Gabriel was that way.

"Who is this?" The voice that finally answered-on the seventh ring, yes Sam had counted-was not one he recognized. It was gruff, and grim, and, needless to say, there was an apparent meanness to the man's tone, maybe even some wariness.

Sam responded with similar wariness in his in voice, "Ah, yes. I'm calling for Gabriel Milton. We, uh, had a date today." He really hoped that Gabriel hadn't given him someone else's number. His fingers clenched into fists, and he chewed on his bottom lip before asking, "Are you one of his brothers? The, uh... The med student, his favorite; Lucifer?" He hoped he'd gotten the name right. If his brother was answering his phone, that meant something was wrong, and Sam desperately wanted for nothing to be wrong.

"How did you...a date?" Sam could hear the man turn his head away from the phone, talking to someone else in the room; Gabriel? "A date?!"

The response was too quiet for Sam to hear, though he could have sworn the intonation was defensive, and the man on the other line brought his mouth back to the phone. "Yes, this is Lucifer. Gabriel is i-Ouch, don't you hit me!" Again, he turned away from the phone, his growl fading into gentle talking for reasons Sam could not have known.

This time, the third party was a little louder; Sam could make out bits and pieces of the conversation.

". . .fucking dare tell him 'm in the hospital."

"What am I supposed to say to him, Gabriel? You didn't tell me about this."

"Luci. . .grown ass man. . .don't have to tell you everything.

"I know that, but you're my responsibility." Strangely enough, the more frustrated Lucifer became, the quieter he spoke-it was obvious that he was exercising quite a bit of control.

Gabriel-Sam was more than positive it was him now-huffed and disregarded Lucifer's last comment. "Make up an excuse. . .good liar, I thought."

With a sigh, the twenty-seven-year-old brought the phone back to his lips, unaware that Sam had heard anything apart from what he'd wanted him to hear. "Gabriel's unavailable at the moment-"

". . .best you got?" Gabriel sassed in the background.

"Shut up!" Lucifer hissed right back, then cleared his throat, "C-Can he call you back later?"

Sam made a noise that sounded like a cross between a sob and a chuckle. "I can hear him in the background; no, don't tell him that. I want to come see him. I… I need to let him know it's okay. Can I do that?" He clenched his fingers tight around his phone, praying to whatever entity would listen. "I had a friend in high school that got hit by a car on his way to see me, only no one would tell me what was going on until he got out three days later and called me. Let me come and see him?" Goddamn, he had it bad. Two months of watching and waiting, and a only week of actual contact? In too deep, some treacherous part of his mind whispered as he waited breathlessly for Lucifer's response.

Lucifer scoffed quietly and murmured something along the lines of, "Kid, you don't even know. . ." before trailing off. A tense silence followed, interrupted only by those distant beeping sounds generally associated with hospitals. Then, following a few confused protests, Sam heard a door shut. "Listen, I don't know who the hell you are, but Gabriel obviously likes you enough to agree to go on a date with you-without telling anyone, might I add." Though he didn't blatantly say it, Lucifer's tone gave away that 'anyone' really just meant him. "You can come, just, don't expect a whole lot of information; I'm pushing it as it is."

Sam's relieved sigh shuddered out of him. "Thank you. Really, thank you," he swallowed, and, though he was terribly starved for information on the matter, he proceeded to promise, "I'm not going to push him into telling me anything he doesn't want to." His hands trembled in relief. "Thank you, again. I'll be there in about twenty minutes, I have to bike."

"Yeah, okay. I have to get back to my brother, but, I guess I'll meet you soon enough." Although Lucifer's tone was still not particularly kind, it was softer than when he had first picked up, which was good enough for Sam. He heard the creak of the hospital room door once again before the line went dead.

The nurse buzzed Sam back, and he wandered through the hallways of the ER until he located Gabriel's number. He took a deep breath to calm the butterflies in his stomach and tapped on the door. He twisted his feet into the tiles and chewed on the inside of his cheek. Gabriel was going to murder him when he realized what was going on.

After a moment, the door opened, and Sam was met with the iciest blue eyes he had ever seen. A man with short, slightly messy dirty blond hair and an extremely sharp facial structure stood before him; about the height of Sam's older brother, he held himself casually, yet with an edgy dominance that was so subtle, it was hard to pinpoint exactly how he was able to appear so threatening. He was not someone to be trifled with, that much was for sure.

"You must be Sam. I'm Lucifer, as you've probably already realized." He introduced himself, however, he didn't make any move to shake Sam's hand; he only stepped aside, silently inviting him into the room-that is, if 'inviting' was even the right word.

Sam mumbled a thank you before stepping into the room and shuffling closer to Gabriel, all sheepish expression and contrition. "Hey," he said softly, "How are you feeling? The nurses treating you okay in here?" He kept his eyes on Gabriel, determined to not let them wander to the different machines. He didn't need to know what was going on- Gabriel would tell him when he was ready.

Gabriel refused to look at Sam, much less talk to him. Hell, he was still cross with Lucifer for letting him come in the first place; he hardly knew Sam, and, more importantly-and perhaps even a little unfamiliar and scary-he liked him. Laying there, an IV in his arm and a breathing tube up his nose, appearing so weak, so fucking vulnerable-he'd never wanted Sam, of all people, to see him like this.

Then again, it had probably been inevitable.

Lucifer sighed and took a seat beside Gabriel's bed, checking his phone every so often, probably for a call or message from one of their other siblings. Sam and Gabriel might as well have been alone, he was so quiet and uninvolved.

Sam eyeballed the chair near the door, before he shrugged, picked it up, and set it on the opposite side of Gabriel's bed, plopping himself down into the hard plastic. "You know," he began, "shortly after I was born, mom was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor. Most of them are benign; it's very rare for one to be malignant…but her's was. Dean and I pretty much grew up in the hospital while she went through chemo and radiation." He fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "I remember the night like it was yesterday, even though I couldn't have been more than three. She smiled at us and told us that the angels were watching over us, and that soon she'd be able to as well," he shook his head, "I can barely remember what she looked like, but, even with all the chemicals, she still smelled like lilacs…" he trailed off for a minute, then started his narrative up again, "She always told us that we couldn't let our fears get in the way of seizing what we wanted from life. She always told us that tomorrow could be too late. So… I guess what I'm trying to say here is that I know it's just been a week, but I care about you. Enough to ride my bike uphill, both ways, barefoot in the snow," he snorted. "So don't shut me out, alright? Even if I'm only here as a friend, I can still support you through… whatever this is. You don't even have to tell me. Just let me support you."

Lucifer had been so close to stopping Sam on more than one occasion, but, in the end, he'd decided to let him say what he wanted to say, even if he wasn't greatly fond of sappy monologues. He glanced from the brunet to his younger brother, curious if it'd had the desired effect. Gabriel was still quiet, and, looking down now, his expression was made up of a sad thoughtfulness. After a few moments, he lifted his head just slightly, peeking at Sam through his stringy hair.

"I...I'm sorry about your mom," he practically whispered, his eyes glistening beneath the overhead light.

Sam leaned forward and laid a hand on the railing of the bed, "Hey, hey no. Don't be upset! That was… that was a long time ago. I miss her, but my stepmom is great, and Adam is the best little brother in the world… for all his falling out of trees." He smiled encouragingly, "I'm just worried about you. Are you okay?" Then, he rolled his eyes and waved his hands a bit, "Considering the circumstances. Are you okay?"

Gabriel laughed weakly, pushing his hair back and out of his face. "Who, me? Yeah, I'm good, I'm good. Buuut, if I don't get some chocolate soon, things are definitely going to get ugly."

Lucifer looked up from his phone, cocking a brow at Gabriel. "You're not getting chocolate, sorry little brother." When Gabriel started to whine at him, he held up his hand, and added, "You're not getting chocolate, and you know exactly why, so don't start with me." Those icy blue eyes fell on Sam once more. "And don't you be sneaking him sweets when you think I'm not looking; you'll be out of here so fast, I swear."

"You're mean," Gabriel told Lucifer, pouting childishly, "I haven't had chocolate in so long, it's practically abuse."

Lucifer simply rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his phone. "I only do it for your own good."

"Yeah? And who was the one who used to help me steal candy for me when we were kids?"

"You can bitch and moan all you want, but my answer stands; no chocolate."

Gabriel scowled and turned to Sam, arms crossed. "See what I have to deal with?"

Sam was doing his best to stifle his laughter. "You two sound like me and Dean when we start arguing." Then, he did laugh, "I can usually get Dean to do whatever I want, though. When I was younger, all I would have to do was pout and turn the puppy eyes on him." He grinned at Gabriel, "Go on, try it, ee if it works. If it doesn't, I'll buy your teas for the next week."

"What, use the puppy-dog eyes on Luci here? Ha! Don't make me laugh, Sam; you're going to be buying my teas for a month if you think that has any chance of working." Nevertheless, he turned to his older brother and made the cutest, most pitiful face he could manage. Lucifer glanced up and snorted. "You're still not getting chocolate."

Gabriel huffed and turned back to Sam, "See? He's a monster!"

Just then, the call Lucifer had been awaiting finally lit up his phone, and he stood, pressing the phone to his ear. "Hey, Cas, you have you sister with you? Yes, we're at the hospital, but he's doing all right now. He. . ." his eyes flickered very rapidly to Sam, then fixated on the wall, "listen, we'll talk about it when you get here. Make sure Anna gets dinner, okay? Okay, thank you. No, Michael isn't coming, he's in a meeting. I don't know where the hell Raph is, she was here earlier. Wh-yes, that one, where el-Oh, for the love of god, yes! Okay? Okay. Bye, Cas, I'll see you in a while." He hung up the phone with a sigh, rubbing his temples.

"Let me guess, he was confirming the hospital again, wasn't he?" Gabriel grinned.

"Of course he was, when doesn't he?" Lucifer shook his head, sitting back down. "Seriously, there's only one hospital close by, does he really think we'd be one or two towns over?"

Gabriel settled back against the bed, thoroughly amused; he reached his hand over and patted Sam's forearm. "Welcome, by the way. I swear, my family deserves a damn sitcom!"

Sam caught Gabriel's hand in his own mid-pat, lacing their fingers together. "I don't mind," he said quietly, "I didn't expect to be meeting them this soon, though." Then, he grinned. "You know," his tone was deliberately teasing, "if you wanted to get out of the date, you could have just said something. You didn't have to go through all this trouble to avoid me."

"Well, Sam-a-lam, what can I say? I just have a flair for the dramatics!" Gabriel glanced at their intertwined fingers, and, although he wouldn't admit it, he was admiring them; the way Sam's hand seemed to engulf his own, yet, their fingers locked together perfectly. It was all new to him, new, and exciting, and warm, the feelings this man gave him. He didn't want to lose it; he was so tired of losing everything, he wanted to keep Sam. Was that selfish?

Just then, the doctor stepped in; Lucifer stood accordingly to meet him. "So...?"

The doctor smiled reassuringly, "With permission, we simply plan to up his medications in hopes of preventing future complications. Unfortunately, he seems to be building up a resistance to the Diovan, and we want to head that off as quickly as we can. It's my professional opinion that we get him on something stronger, such as Vasotec or another ACE inhibitor. " The doctor glanced over at Sam, "Would you like to step outside and discuss the rest of this with me, Mr. Milton?"

Sam did his best to ignore the doctor's words, concentrating his attention on Gabriel. "You know, most normal people would head for the hills if they heard you say that. Glad I'm not too 'normal,' then."

"Yeah, you're about as far from normal as it gets!" Gabriel let out a gush of air, laughing a little. "First of all, you're fucking huge, and you're fucking crazy. You got lucky; I like that about you."

Lucifer, meanwhile, nodded at the doctor and accompanied him outside of the room, giving Sam and Gabriel one last glance before disappearing into the hall.

Sam rubbed his thumb over the back of Gabriel's hand. "I don't think your brother likes me very much," he said softly. "though, looking at him, I'm not sure he likes anyone very much… except you. I'm just glad he let me come see you. I had to beg him, you know."

"Don't take it personally or anything; it takes Luci a while to warm up to anyone. He'll probably take to you easier because I like you, though," Gabriel wrinkled his nose, recalling how protective his older brother could be, "I hope so, anyway."

After while, Lucifer returned; this time, however, he was not alone-two teenagers, a stone-faced boy with dark hair and deep blue eyes, and a red-headed girl with soft, sweet features, slipped in behind him.

Sam looked from Gabriel to the three siblings and felt a knot of worry coil in his gut. He wasn't family, he had no right to be here. He threw a slightly panicked look at his sick friend. "Uh… So. You must be Castiel and Anna. I'm Sam. I'm Gabriel's…" he floundered.

"-Concerned date." Lucifer finished Sam's sentence before Gabriel had a chance to open his mouth and turn it into some crude, playful joke. He earned a 'you're no fun' look from his little brother as he resumed his seat.

Anna approached the bed on Sam's side, giving the tall man a quick once-over before smiling warmly at him. "It's nice to meet you, Sam. Are you the real reason Gabriel's been going to the coffee shop more often than usual? Not that I blame him, of course; you are pretty cute."

"Annaaa," Gabriel whined at her, his cheeks openly advertising a blush without his consent.

The statement causing a surge of confidence, he turned to Gabriel, "You've been coming to the coffee shop every day because of me?"

The deep gravel of Castiel's voice startled him, "He told you it was normal, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did." Sam grinned. "What was it you said? 'I'm always here at this time. Every day, kiddo,' I think it was. You didn't tell me I was special."

"I usually go there almost every other day anyway," Gabriel attempted to clear his name, cheeks still lit up bright as Rudolph's nose, "it seemed...practical to meet up with you there, that's all!"

Anna giggled a little, "What he's trying to say is, he really likes you, and you should probably stick around, because he doesn't like a lot of people."

"Don't encourage him," Lucifer spoke without looking up, however, upon glancing in his direction, Sam was positive he'd caught wind of the faintest smile.


	4. Chapter 4

"You sure you want to go through with this, Sam? It's not too late to change your mind."

It was a Tuesday evening, just after six o'clock, four days following the Friday Gabriel had missed their date due to hospitalization. To make it up to Sam, he'd promised they could reschedule if the brunet was still interested, which he said he was; so, here they were.

Gabriel had arrived in the parking lot outside of the coffee shop just a few minutes prior, nervously tugging at the sleeves of a fitted suit he'd, sadly enough, originally gotten for his father's funeral. Still, nobody needed to know that; it was the only fancy outfit he owned, and Sam had told him to dress nicely. Apparently, a trip to the hospital had convinced Sam to up things from diner food, though Gabriel couldn't quite figure out why. Sam was a college student, fancy restaurants weren't usually on the agenda. That, and he'd refused to tell Gabriel exactly where they were going; he'd insisted it be a surprise.

The punctual person that he was, Sam had been waiting in the parking lot when Gabriel was dropped off and was dressed with equal tastefulness. Hell, he'd even managed to tame his wild mess of hair.

Sam eyed the older man up and down. "Of course I want to go through with this," he grinned, "You look fantastic, by the way. That suit does good things for you."

"We're going to have to walk a bit to get to the place, sorry. I just wanted it to be a surprise." He fidgeted nervously with the sleeves of his jacket and silently thanked God that it was cool outside, so he wouldn't sweat to death while they walked. Holding his arm out for Gabriel, he asked gingerly, " You coming?"

"You bet!" Gabriel wiped away all uncertainty and replaced it with a toothy grin, eagerly hooking arms with Sam. He normally was not one for surprises-unless he was behind them, of course-but, for whatever reason, he was currently as giddy as a child on Christmas Eve. "If I'm a good walking buddy, will you give me hints?"

Sam hummed thoughtfully. "Depends on your definition of good, I suppose," he said finally, "your definition of good could be vastly different from mine." A smirk followed. "I'll think about it. I will tell you my brother Dean helped me plan this and brought everything out for me."

"Oh really? So my fate is in the hands of a complete stranger? That's comforting." Gabriel's grin only widened, his eyes wrinkling at the corners. As he walked, there was a little bounce in his step.

Sam walked in silence for a few minutes until they came to a tree line. "I need you to close your eyes and let me lead you, alright? Do you trust me?" Sam's forehead was creased with seriousness and worry. "Please tell me you trust me."

"Do I trust you? Well, I'm here, aren't I?" Taking a deep breath, Gabriel shut his eyes, clutching Sam's arm just a little bit tighter.

Sam chuckled and, very slowly, led Gabriel through the trees. "Watch out," he murmured at one point, "there's a dip here," and then, "scoot a little closer to me, we have to squeeze through two trees." Finally, he stopped and sucked in breath nervously. "Alright. Now…" he opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated, thinking.

"Okay. Uhm. Well, you can open your eyes now."

Dean had held down the fort while Sam had gone to fetch Gabriel, however, he appeared to have cleared out when he heard them coming. Good. The last thing Sam needed was his big brother babying him on his...well, not first date, persay, but he first significant date, anyway.

A picnic table, draped with a maroon cloth, took up the majority of a small clearing and was loaded down with containers of home-cooked food-roast beef, potatoes, corn, and a variety of other options. Some portable floodlights illuminated the scene from each corner, but there were also lit candles set between two place settings, giving the table a warm, romantic feel-cliche as it seemed, it was actually sort of nice.

Gabriel looked around, his eyes visibly lighting up as he took everything in. Nobody, save his own flesh and blood, had ever done anything like this for him, gone to such lengths to impress him, exclusively. Needless to say, it was making him feel positively mushy inside; not that he was about to admit to that, of course.

"Wow, Sam, this...this is really great," he turned to the taller man, grinning from ear to ear, "thank you."

Cheeks burning in a blush, Sam grinned back. "I'm so glad. Wait 'til you taste it though, it gets better!" He grabbed Gabriel's hand and tugged him over to the table. "We've got roast beef, mashed potatoes, some sort of sweet potato thing, and corn, green beans, and gravy," he pointed to each of the containers in turn, "and, for dessert, I snagged my stepmom's famous apple pie!"

Laughing a little, Gabriel took a seat at the table, eager to taste the splendor before him. "Sounds good to me; I'm so ready to eat, you have no idea!" Still, he folded his hands politely and waited for Sam's okay.

Sam waved a hand over the dishes, "Dig in, man. Don't wait for me. It's been a while since I had Kate's cooking; I need to mentally prepare myself." He laughed and settled at the table, taking a deep breath. "I've been living on hot pockets and ramen." He made a face.

"Better than the strict diet Mikey has me on," Gabriel muttered, going right for the beef and sweet potatoes, loading up on them before even considering his other options. Once his plate was nice and full, he wasted no time sampling the cooking. "Dear god, this food is heavenly!"

"I'll give her your compliments." He did the same as Gabriel and piled his plate with a little of everything. "They've got you on a diet? For your medical condition?" Although curiosity clawed at him, Sam didn't plan on pushing for any further information, especially not tonight. "What are they feeding you that's worse than ramen and hot pockets?"

"Oh, you know, all-natural, whole grain, healthy stuff," Gabriel clicked his tongue against his teeth, "Hell, I'm not even allowed to have ramen more than every once in a while; too much salt." He waved his hand dismissively and took a few more (notably large) bites, clearly indulging. "You don't even want to know how long it has been since I've had a decent slice of pie. I don't even think we have any dessert in the house! The one who makes the money has the power, even over the grocery list, blahblahblah."

Sam frowned around a mouthful of roast. "You don't like to eat healthy?" He swallowed the bite of meat and held up a pitcher of lemonade, "Want some? I couldn't get Dean to get us any champagne, or I'd be offering you that instead."

"I have a bit of a sweet tooth is all; well, that, and it's hard growing up with any kind of limitation. Unpacking your lunch in middle school to find carrot sticks, while all your friends have gushers-that'd put a damper on any kid's life, ya know?" Gabriel shrugged to emphasize that it really wasn't a big deal, then snagged his cup and held it out accordingly. "Hey, lemonade is good with me! Aren't you a little young for alcohol anyway?" He laughed lightly.

Sam shrugged and poured a cup for each of them. "Dad gave me my first beer when I was fifteen-said it would make a man out of me," he took a sip of the lemonade, "I usually get one with dinner when I go home anyway, and, when I turned eighteen, Dean took me out behind the house and we got wasted while our parents were on vacation with Adam." He laughed, "The only thing I'm too young for is buying it myself!" One more swig, and Sam went back to attacking his potatoes.

"Guess he just didn't want to fork up the cash for champagne, then," chuckling, Gabriel brought his glass to his lips and sipped, "probably better that way; tonight would not be a good night to find out whether or not I'm a lightweight."

"You haven't… had any before?" Sam inquired, "It's that whole healthy kick your brother has going on, isn't it?" He took another bite of potatoes and waved his fork around, "I mean, really. He should let you live a little." A chuckle, "Good thing you've got me around, then. I can help you get into all kinds of trouble."

"I mean, back when Luci first turned twenty-one, I was sometimes able to persuade him into letting me have a sip or two from his beer bottle." The blond tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. "Mikey has, since then, eliminated alcohol from our house. I mean, I'm technically entirely capable of getting some if I want, but, I guess his strategy worked, because this is the first time I've actually considered the fact that I haven't ever had a drink."

Gabriel downed the remainder of the lemonade, wiping the excess from his mouth with the back of his hand. "Then again, I don't go out much either," he looked up at Sam, a mischievous gleam in his eye, "one might consider you a bad influence, mister!" He gave a slight pause, then added, "Not that I'm one to talk."

Sam winked, "I'm always happy to be of service." He, too, downed the rest of the lemonade and blinked at the warmth percolating in his limbs. "I think we got our alcohol anyway," he muttered, staring at the pitcher, "it could just be getting warmer out here, though."

"Eh, I thought this lemonade was a tad on the bitter side; I'm sure your brother spiked it last minute because he felt guilty for being so stingy." Despite himself, Gabriel reached for the pitcher and poured another glass, sipping it slowly. Then, he went right back to stuffing his face until his plate was almost empty.

"So, about that pie..."

Sam pulled out a tinfoil wrapped plate, "Right here," he set it on the table and pulled the foil off, "you're in luck too, it's still warm." He waved a hand over it, trying to waft some of the smell Gabriel's way.

Gabriel leaned in, his nostrils flaring slightly. "Mm..." He grabbed the little dessert plate Sam had set off to the side and held it up, eager for a slice. "Hit me with the biggest piece you care to cut, please."

"If I did that, I'd probably put the whole thing on your plate." Sam set the pie plate on the table between them and held up his fork challengingly, "Let's see how much you can eat. You start on one side, I'll start on the other; we can," he snorted a laugh, "'eat' in the middle." He covered his mouth with his other hand and shrugged through his laughter.

"So you do have a sense of humor after all; I am beyond relieved. Anna already outed me-I like you." Gabriel picked up his fork and pounced on the pie, delivering a large, apple-filled bite to his mouth. "Damn! That's some savory apple pie if I've ever tasted any! I'm definitely going to have to bum some more off of you in the near future; what Mikey doesn't know won't hurt him."

Sam took a bite of his own side, "I'll have you know," he waved the fork around as he spoke, as he seemed to have a habit of doing, "that Dean and I have had some very elaborate prank wars over the years. Once-and I'm still planning my revenge for this-he put Nair in my shampoo. To be fair, I had replaced his hair gel with superglue."

"Oh, you are a fiend." Gabriel downed his second cup of lemonade, then went for more pie, stuffing his cheeks; it took him a few moments to resume speaking, "One time, when I was about sixteen or so, I took apart my older sister's keyboard and mixed up all the keys. I don't remember why, but I was mad at her for something. I used to pull shit like that all the time; no wonder she doesn't like me too much." He laughed fondly, tapping the side of his fork against the pie plate. "Oh, and then there was this one time I painted over all of the bars of soap in the house with clear nail polish. Nobody could get a grip on them for hours, it was the most amusing thing! Or have you ever tried replacing green tea ice cream with wasabi? Kid, I have lists of pranks just waiting to be put to you use, and, the best thing is, none of my siblings can even try to get me back!"

The smile that spread across Sam's face could accurately be described as vicious, "Oh? Do tell; I've been eager to get his ass back for the Nair. Teach me your secrets." He winked and took a few more bites of pie.

"Hmm, let me see," Gabriel tapped his chin thoughtfully with his finger, "Nair, that's pretty good-hard to counter, but I think I have just the thing! Replace his toothpaste with Neosporin. The switch may be a little tedious, but, trust me on this one Sam, his reaction will make it well worth it." Satisfied with his advice, he went back to feasting on pie, coming close to crossing over to Sam's side of the plate.

Sam chuckled evilly, "Oh, that is perfect!" He nabbed a few more bites and laughed again. "He is not going to know what hit him this time around." Reaching over, he took hold of Gabriel's free hand and very seriously looked into the other's eyes. "Is it too soon to ask you to marry me?" His voice was light and joking, but, it dawned on him after the fact that he was getting far too comfortable much too quickly. Sam considered pulling his hand away, deciding against it simply because it had the potential to make things awkward.

Lucky for Sam, Gabriel was a good sport. "Gee, I dunno, Sam, that's a mighty big commitment, and, who knows, I might turn around and start pranking you. Then again, if you can promise me a life-time supply of this pie, it's a done deal." He eyed what remained of the dessert, but refrained from eating anymore, as he was legitimately so full, he feared taking another bite would end badly for all involved.

Sam gestured to the rest of it with his fork, "You done?"

Gabriel nodded, "Unfortunately, I'm stuffed. It's all yours."

"I'm not sure I could eat another bite either." He raised his eyebrows, drawing his hands back to drape some foil over the remains of the pie, "I can get loads more where this came from. She makes key lime, apple, blackberry, rhubarb, strawberry…" he trailed off with a grin, "I could keep you neck deep in pie for the rest of your life, provided Dean doesn't try to eat it all."

Gabriel chuckled, leaning back in his seat and stretching. "All the pie I could ever want, eh? When's the wedding?"

Words flowed so easily between them, Sam decided there was no harm in taking the gag for one last spin, "You know, we could always go right now. I'm sure there's someone out there who has the authority to marry us."

"I'm just glad you decided to let me take you on a date." Sam reached for Gabriel's hand again, feeling the smaller man's pulse beneath his fingers, "I told you before that you didn't have to do this again if… if you didn't want to." Insecurities assaulted him. "But...what do you think? Can we give us a shot?"

Gabriel tensed slightly, his pulse quickening against the larger man's hand. It took him a minute to gather his thoughts, "W-Well, I mean..." he smiled sheepishly, "define 'us.' We talkin' casual dating or..." Nervously, he chewed his cheek.

"Whatever you're comfortable with." Sam gave him a reassuring smile. "I like you a lot, but I don't want to push you into anything you're not willing to do."

"It's like I said last week, you say no, and we can be friends..." His eyes were practically pleading with Gabriel.

"Well, I'd never want to disappoint you-"

"Disappointments are a fact of life," Sam interrupted.

Gabriel smiled with underlying sadness. "I'm game for a few more dates if it means I get to see that pretty smile of yours again."

Sam let out a soft, relieved laugh. "You give me plenty of reasons to smile."


	5. Chapter 5

A long awaited conversation

* * *

"So, this fair, is it really as great as everyone says? I've only ever been to small, local ones." Gabriel sat beside Sam on the porch, waiting for his two younger siblings to emerge from the house. Sam's older brother, Dean, whom Gabriel had yet to meet, was on his way to pick them up from some big fair a few towns over-at Sam's request, of course.

"Dude," Sam grinned and scooted closer to Gabriel, "you have no idea. They have at least twice as many rides, and the toys that you can win aren't crappy. There's quality at this state fair," he laughed, "plus, the rides don't look like death traps."

"No death traps, huh? Sounds like a plan." Gabriel leaned his head against Sam's shoulder, shutting his eyes briefly. It had been a couple months since that day at the coffee shop, and Gabriel had warmed up to Sam remarkably quickly; it took a fair amount of trust for him to rest against someone like that.

Sam curled his arm around Gabriel's back and idly petted his hair. "I'm telling you, this place is the best, and the food is even better."

"Anna, please!" Castiel's plaintive voice floated through the door, moments ahead of the teen emerging. "I do not need you to set me up with anyone." He ran a hand through his hair and glared at her. "I will find my own date, in my own time."

"I'm just saying, maybe if you got out more, you'd actually go on dates!" Anna followed him out, arms crossed.

Castiel scowled at her. "I do not want to go out more, and I do not want you to try and set me up with Hester or Rachel again. I had to tell them I was not interested, and I upset the both of them, badly."

Right on time, the Impala's noisy engine announced Dean's arrival, the beep of a horn only confirming it. "Come on, Sammy, I want t' beat traffic!"

Sam slid out of his seat and held his hand out to help Gabriel up.

Castiel tilted his head slightly to the side and blinked inquiringly at Sam, "Your brother?"

Sam laughed, "Yeah, and I think he brought our little brother along in that beast he calls a car."

Gabriel followed closely behind Sam, clutching his hand. "Damn, nice wheels!"

His comment, naturally, pulled an easy grin from Dean's lips; there was quite possibly only one thing he prided himself on above his car, and that wasn't something so casually put on display. "Thanks, man! Name's Dean, by the way. You the pretty little blond Sammy's always gushing about? Gabriel, was it?"

"Yeah, that would be me," he gestured to his two younger siblings, "and this is my brother, Cas, and sister, Anna. Nice to finally meet you."

Adam sat in the back seat, peering through the rolled down window, his fingers clutching at the door. "And, since the asshole driving forgot to mention me, I'm Adam."

Sam laughed, "He's the baby of the family, and he hates it; don't let his innocent face fool you." He eyeballed the car, "Alright, Cas, you take shotgun; the three of us will squeeze in the back with Adam."

Castiel didn't act as if he'd heard Sam. Instead, he was staring intently at the driver's side-at Dean.

"Yo," Sam snapped his fingers, "earth to Cas. Get in the passenger's seat."

Castiel jerked in surprise, staring at Sam for a moment. Then, he nodded and went around the car, sliding into the passenger seat.

Once Dean had unlocked the back, Anna slid in; because she and Adam were the smallest, they had no choice but to squeeze into one seat, under one seatbelt. Anna didn't seemed to mind at all.

Gabriel slid in next, sitting in the middle, as his short legs folded up much easier than Sam's legs would have.

Sam stuffed himself in after the rest of them and grunted. "Alright, Dean, the faster we get moving, the faster we can get out of here. We're like sardines."

Adam tried his best to inch away from Anna, with a muttered, "Yeah, what he said." Castiel went right back to staring.

"Yeah, yeah; remember, this was your idea." Dean switched on the radio and got back on the road, the car steadily accelerating as they left the neighborhood.

The fair came into view about an hour later, and, by that time, everyone in the backseat was more than ready to jump out the window.

Anna, discouraged by Adam's awkwardness and general short responses, pouted until she caught wind of the Ferris Wheel in the distance.

Gabriel had all but fallen asleep against Sam, his legs crossed atop the seat, as, after while, the small space had gotten too cramped, even for him.

Sam had his arms wrapped around Gabriel's shoulders, cradling the smaller man in his doze. He seemed content to just stay there, that is, until they had parked. With a groan of relief, he popped the door open and crawled out, extending his hand to Gabriel.

Adam did his best to wriggle out from under the seatbelt and make his own escape, away from Anna, while Castiel sat in the car for a few moments, an intense look of concentration on his face.

Blinking and rubbing his eyes, Gabriel stumbled out of the car after Sam, grabbing the taller man's hand after the fact, to steady himself. Anna followed after Adam, practically skipping once she was free of the cramped backseat. Adam shied away from her even more when she was out, going to stand near Dean, bafflement written all over his face.

"Hey, you coming?" Dean gave Castiel a weird look as he climbed out, wondering what the hell he could be thinking about with such a look of utter focus.

"Dean," Castiel said abruptly, "why don't we take Adam and Anna in first? There is something I would like to speak with you about."

Sam raised his eyebrows and, when he was sure Gabriel couldn't see him, gave Castiel a look of gratitude. He intertwined his and Gabriel's fingers, turning the physical support into emotional contact as he gave the other's hand a squeeze.

Dean blinked, peeking at Sam out of the corner of his eye before shrugging. "Yeah, sounds good to me. Come on, let's go guys."

Anna followed Dean without any hesitation, excited to finally get to go to the fair. "Can we go on the Ferris Wheel first?!"

Once they were alone, Gabriel looked up at Sam, a childish pout gracing his features. "You and Cas totally planned that, didn't you?"

Sam hummed and grinned, "No comment. I am glad they left us alone though-gives me a chance to ask you something." He bit the inside of his cheek and took a deep breath in hopes of settling his nerves. "We've been taking this thing one day at the time for a while now," he licked his lips and glanced down at their joined hands, "I want to take the next step, Gabriel. I don't want this to simply be casual dates and hand holding anymore. I care about you too much for that." He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, "I know I said I wouldn't push, but…" he trailed off and stood there, fidgeting in anticipation.

Gabriel was silent for almost two minutes; one could practically hear the gears buzzing around in his head as he tried to formulate the appropriate response. Then, he let out a noise that could only be described as the cross between a sigh and nervous laughter.

"I-If you want to talk, we can talk, but...I have a few things I need to share with you before we do anything too hasty. C-Can we find somewhere to sit?" As he spoke, he trembled just enough for it to be noticeable. Sam could feel the smaller man's pulse quicken significantly against his palm.

"Yeah." Sam smiled reassuringly and led them over to a park bench near the entrance to sit down, pulling Gabriel with him. "Tell me when you feel ready, alright? We've got all night."

As he sat, Gabriel released Sam's hand and leaned down, folding his hands in his lap in an attempt to compose himself. "Yeah, alright."

He was silent for another long while, listening to the variety of sounds coming from the fair in the distance. His features were unreadable, his golden eyes concentrated on the dirt ground.

"Make no mistake about it, Sam, I really care for you, more than I've cared for anyone in a long time." Gabriel took a deep breath. "But you're so young, and you have a real bright future ahead of you; I mean, law school? That's quite an investment. It's just...I don't feel like I could contribute anything to it." He was still somewhat dancing around the actual focus of the discussion, however, it was a start.

"You're not that much older than me," Sam pointed out, "you're funny, you make me smile, and I'm attracted to you. Not to mention, your talent and creativity, and even though you like to play pranks-which isn't necessarily a bad thing-you are still one of the kindest people I've ever met." He laughed, "This isn't a marriage proposal, Gabe."

"You flatter me, Sam." Gabriel chuckled weakly, twiddling his thumbs. "And I know that, what you're asking, it shouldn't be so hard, but... You have to forgive me, I'm not used to letting people in. You're good to me and, yeah, you're a definite keeper, but you could do better." His voice dropped slightly; it was time to stop stalling, "The reality of it is, I'm sick, and you could do so much better..."

Sam immediately pulled him into a hug and held him close. "Look, you're sick. I get it. You were in the hospital the day of our first date, and I begged your brother to let you see me. I would much rather spend this time with you, than without you. You can't help being sick, sometimes bad shit happens to good people."

Gabriel resisted his urge to return the hug, laying stagnant against the taller man, his hands pressed to Sam's chest-his way of bracing himself for what he expected next. "No, you don't 'get it,' Sam. It's worse than that, dammit. I'm not talking about the flu here; hell, I'm not even talking about pneumonia." He struggled a little, attempting to pull away. "M-My heart's fucking faulty, okay?! I...It's a miracle I even ma-made it to my twenty-third birthday. If you even fucking knew…" he trailed off, huffing in exasperation.

Sam squeezed him in a hug, and then allowed him to pull back. "Gabriel," he set his hands on the smaller man's shoulders and looked into his eyes, "listen to me. I understand that, I do, but, it doesn't make a damn bit of difference to me. I want to make you happy." He smiled, faintly, but warmly, "So, you could die tomorrow. So could I. At least… at least if we're together… I can make you smile." He chewed his bottom lip. "I like seeing you smile."

"There's no way you could possibly understand..." Gabriel started, watching Sam from the corner of his eye; then, he sighed and shook his head, deciding there was no point in finishing that thought.

He began again, making a real attempt to lighten his tone and face Sam, his disbelief reflected in his eyes, "You're taking this far too well, way better than I ever imagined you would. And, you know what? I think you're a big dummy for offering to stick with me. Handsome, and sweet, yes, but dumb." Still, he could not help but smile, if only just a little.

Sam reached out and pulled Gabriel back to his chest, running his fingers through the other man's hair. "You say the sweetest things," he murmured, then frowned, "Who hurt you, before?"

This time, Gabriel eased into Sam's grasp, shoulders slumping. He was still afraid-it was impossible not to be-but not quite for all the same reasons as before. "Who said somebody hurt me, huh? Maybe I'm just cautious, ya know, because most people aren't big dumb dummy heads, like you." He poked at the brunet's abdomen accusingly.

Sam flinched and gave a distressed cry, "Ahh! Stop that!" He swatted at Gabriel's hand. "You just act like someone ran away from you before, and I...I guess want to know, that's all. Call it morbid curiosity. There has to be a reason why you're so… cautious about letting me see anything more than the superficial you." He set his chin on top of Gabriel's head. "Let me into that gourd of yours. What're you thinking?"

"You don't exactly let up easy, do you, 'ey, Sammy-boy?" Gabriel blew a strand of hair out of his face, chuckling in resignation. "But, you're right, if it's any consolation. There is a reason, and her name is Kali. In her defense, it was high school, and I didn't tell her for almost a year-ya know, when my absences started to get really noticeable, and bullshit excuses no longer cut it." He was quiet for a moment, recollecting on a succession of memories that he hadn't thought about in a while-that he had never wanted to think about again, if he could help it.

"Anyway, I finally told her everything, and, not even a month later, she was just...gone. A good twelve months, down the drain." The blond scowled at nothing in particular, a bitter taste in his mouth at the very thought. "Can't say I blame her. I had nothing to offer her, but, damn, at the time, I really wanted to, at the very least, pretend I could give her the world. Hey, Sam, I can pretend for you too, ya know. I'm pretty good at that." He sighed.

Sam felt tears pricking at his eyes, and he instinctively pulled Gabriel closer. "You don't have to pretend with me, I promise." He sniffed inconspicuously, rubbing soothing circles into the older man's shoulders, "How about you just relax, and let me give you the world instead, hm? I won't leave you unless you want me to, I swear."

"You say that now, but, Sam, my life is pretty ugly. Sooner or later, it starts to get to you." Touched as he was by the other man's words, Gabriel couldn't swallow his nerves. He'd never had it easy, and, although he tried to stay positive, it seemed that hospital bed was always right around the corner. Everything always seemed to go sour in time, why was Sam any different? Because he promised to stay?

Gabriel took a quick breath and slid his arms around Sam, nestling his face deeply into the other's chest. His thoughts were in constant battle with each other, one side snidely hissing that there was no way anything good in his life could possibly last, the other reminding him that everything was temporary, so he might as well hold tight to what he had while it was still within his grasp. Automatically, his arms tightened around Sam, and, in that moment, he decided which side he was going to listen to.


	6. Chapter 6

In which Gabriel gets a funnel cake and some other treats

* * *

After a few moment of sitting there, pressed close to each other, Sam dipped his head and spoke quietly into Gabriel's ear, "You ready to go in now, or do you want to wait a bit?" He resisted the urge to place a kiss there. He'd been fighting losing battles with his self-control in the recent weeks; this little intimacy was just the latest casualty.

"Mm, tough choice, but, I think 'm ready for some of that cotton candy you were telling me about earlier." Gabriel lifted his head to look at Sam, his eyes bright as ever. "I really want to see what's so exciting about this place. Mind showing me around?"

Sam licked his lips and bit at them. "Only if I can kiss you first," he declared. "I can kiss you, right?" His heart thudded heavily in his chest, and he rubbed his sweating palms against the material of his jeans.

Gabriel tapped his chin thoughtfully, nose wrinkling. "If I let you kiss me, will you throw some kettle corn in with that cotton candy?" He practically purred the question.

Sam made a face. "Kettle corn? Really?" He wrinkled his nose and huffed. "I suppose," he drew the words out in a whine, "but why do I have to bribe you for a kiss? I've been wanting to kiss you for ages."

"Oh, don't get your panties in a knot; I was going to say yes either way. I just wanted to get some extra sweets out of you, that's all." The smaller man wiggled, his lips jutting out in a slight pout.

"Mmm. Only because no one will let you have them at home." Sam's lips twitched in a smirk, and he shuffled around until he could bend down without causing himself discomfort. He could feel Gabriel's breath puffing over his face just before he pressed their lips together, closing the distance between them. His eyes fluttered shut, and he twisted his sweaty hands on the hem of his own jacket. Gabriel's lips were smooth and faintly sticky with chapstick; for just a moment, he thought about taking a taste.

Gabriel returned Sam's soft kiss without hesitation, his pulse almost doubling that of the other man. Despite the inexperience he expressed in other aspects of life, he was no amatuer here, his kiss the perfect blend of tenderness and desire.

A small sound escaped the back of Sam's throat, and he shuddered when they parted from the kiss. "I really liked that," he murmured, cheeks flushed slightly, "kissing you, I mean. Can I do it again? I'll win you a stuffed animal." He beamed.

"A big stuffed animal?" Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows, the hopefulness in his expression highly exaggerated by the glimmer in his eyes. He laughed and leaned in, teasing Sam with the warmth of his breath. "You gotta promise, Samshine."

Sam chuckled, "Of course," he murmured, "the biggest one I can find." And, fuck it if it was a childish thing teenagers did at the fair, because Gabriel sure as hell deserved something normal for a change. He deserved a boyfriend who would win him things, and treat him to dinner, and kiss him under the stars-all that sappy, sweet stuff.

When their lips met a second time, Sam gently ran his tongue over the smaller man's lips, tasting the sweetness of his chapstick-cherry, was it?-and smiling. He cradled Gabriel's face in his hands and almost laughed when their noses bumped together.

"'ey, careful where you point that thing," Gabriel muttered breathlessly, fingers all tangled in Sam's mess of hair. He would pull back from the other's lips a few inches, only to move in once more to grace him with another soft kiss.

Sam pulled back reluctantly. "You know, if we don't stop, we're never going to go in." He reached up and pulled Gabriel's hand from his hair, kissing the man's fingertips. "I'm tempted to hotwire Baby and steal you away."

"I don't know your brother well, Sam, but, if my baby brother stole my car and drove off with a stranger, I'd be pretty pissed off." Gabriel chuckled, watching Sam attend to his fingers. "We'd better play it safe and go in; otherwise, I suspect you'll be getting more than just Nair in your shampoo next time around."

"I think he'd be pretty much neutral about the whole affair," Sam sighed and stood, "proud because I managed to hotwire her, but pissed because she's Baby." He rolled his eyes, "Sometimes I think he loves that car more than he loves his own family."

Gabriel stood at Sam's side, taking his hand. "Eh, go easy on him; he's probably put a lot of work into his car. Now, you ready to go? I'm getting kinda hungry."

"You're always hungry," Sam laughed, but twined their fingers together and led the way over to the ticket booth. "Two please." He dug into his pocket to pull out a twenty and handed it to the cashier, who stuffed it in her little box.

"Hands, please."

Sam held out his unoccupied one and the girl stamped it, holding it at the ready for Gabriel.

Gabriel held out his free hand and, once stamped and cleared, all but dragged Sam into the fair, excitement causing him to bounce as he walked. "Why are you walking so sloooow? Come on!"

Sam took longer strides to keep up. "What's your rush?" He laughed, "It's not like they're going to pack up and leave tonight." He motioned to the concessions, "You want to get food first, or rides? I advise rides first, that way you don't hurl everywhere."

Gabriel placed a hand on Sam's shoulder, giving him this supremely serious look, as if he was about to give a lecture. "Sam, Sam, Sam, food is always first. Besides, I can't really go on a lot of the puke-inducing rides, or need I remind you?" That smug smile returned to his face, and he wheeled around, gripping Sam's hand once more. "Now, dessert or lunch? Hmm, choices..."

"You should try the funnel cake," Sam suggested, laughing as Gabriel pulled him along, "with the strawberry syrup drizzled all over it."

Gabriel stopped dead, looking back at Sam with large eyes. "You, my friend, are a genius! Where do I get me one of those?!"

Sam hummed thoughtfully. "I'll tell you, but for a price." He raised an eyebrow and smirked. He didn't think he would ever tire of being affectionate with Gabriel. Couldn't be possible. He squeezed Gabriel's hand and laced their fingers together, his eyes full of promise.

The smaller man put his hand on his hip and looked up at Sam, brows raised. "Jeez, I know I'm irresistable, but how can you be thinking about that with funnel cake at stake?" He pouted for a moment.

"Please?"

Then, he leaned up and gave Sam a soft kiss.

Sam bent down a little, placed both hands on each side of Gabriel's face, and covered Gabriel's lips with his own. He pressed his tongue against the older man's lips, and made a questioning noise deep in his throat. There was no hint of the awkwardness with their noses this time. Sam could pride himself on being an exceptionally quick learner.

Gabriel tugged Sam over to the side, out of the way of traffic, and willingly parted his lips, flicking his tongue out to meet that of his partner. He kissed deeply, hands clenched around the taller man's shirt; then, without warning, he pulled away. He could pride himself on being a horrible tease. "So, about that funnel cake!"

Sam bit his bottom lip and huffed. "Yeah, right. Funnel Cake." He licked his lips and smiled at the taste of chapstick. He tugged Gabriel's hand back into his own and started for the food vendors area. "C'mon. They're this way."

The smaller man followed, his caramel-colored hair bouncing with him; he was rather pleased with himself, that much was certain. "Bless you, Samsquatch; you may turn out to be my hero after all."

He hummed thoughtfully. "You say that now. Wait until I've stuffed you too full of food to resist my unvirtuous advances."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" Gabriel waggled his eyebrows. Then, upon spotting a sign advertising funnel cakes, he pulled Sam over to a significantly long line. "Dammit. I swear, if they sell out before I get up there..."

"Both." Sam did the eyebrow thing right back at him. "You'll be fine. They make plenty of batter for things like this. Take a chill pill. These things are supposed to be worry free. If they don't have any, I'll find a recipe and make you some… sometime. Or get Dean to do it. He likes cooking."

"Oh, so darling Dean-o has a soft spot for the culinary arts, does he? Remind me to write a list of my demands and give it to him."

Despite the length of the line, it moved fairly quickly, not really meeting any serious delay, even when somebody found something to complain about. They were at the front in no time.

A teenage girl with red hair looked them up and down. "Ya'll want two?"

Sam shook his head. "Just one for my short friend here. And add that strawberry stuff to the top of it."

The girl nodded and went to the fryers to grab a freshly fried funnel cake from one of the small tables. She dusted it liberally with powdered sugar, before pouring some kind of strawberry sauce from a container and drenching the poor pastry. "There you are. That'll be five bucks."

Sam frowned, but pulled the bill out anyway and handed it to her. She stuffed the money in her apron pocket and held the fried treat out to Gabriel.

Gabriel took it eagerly, managing a quick, "Thank you," before hurrying over to grab a fork and sit down at a picnic table. By the time Sam joined him, his face was sticky with sugar and excess strawberry sauce. "Want some?"

Sam leaned forward, intent on taking his share in the form of a kiss, when the sound of his name caused him to jerk upright.

"Sammy, there you are! I was beginning to doubt that you had ever made it in." Just then, Dean made his reappearance, complete with two Miltons, and one additional Winchester. Anna was preoccupied, attempting to describe the stuffed dog she so desperately wanted to win.

Adam stood beside her, resignation written all over his face. He nodded, smiled when appropriate, and made vague agreeable noises when she would ask him questions. All in all, Sam had never seen anyone so miserable, or confused, for that matter.

Sam shrugged, one corner of his mouth twitching into a smile in response to Dean. "I needed to talk to my boyfriend."

Cas raised an eyebrow at the change in terminology, but said nothing to Sam. Instead, he turned to his brother. "Gabriel. What in the world are you eating? You know Lucifer would have a fit if he saw that."

"Oh, give it a rest, Cassy!" Gabriel wiped his mouth with a napkin, then went in for another bite. "It's fine, Luci isn't here anyway." He proceeded to finish the about half of the cake and lick clean his fingers, although, his face was still more or less a mess.

Cas gave a disapproving grunt and sat down on Gabriel's other side. "You're going to have to share it with me to buy my silence." In response, Gabriel grumbled a little, but pushed the plate towards his younger brother.

Dean, meanwhile, placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, giving him a little pat. "So that's the real reason you ditched us, huh? Have you guys done anything other than eat yet?"

Sam grinned at his brother, "Are you sure you want to know?" Then, he laughed, "No, we just got in and picked up the funnel cake. Shorty over there had just gotten started when you and the gaggle showed back up." He nodded his head slightly at Adam and mouthed, 'Poor kid.'

"I can hear you, ya know!" Gabriel called from the table, having to lean to the side so he could be seen from behind Castiel. "It's not my fault that you're a giant!"

Dean chuckled. "Oh yeah, he's a keeper all right."

Sarcasm or not, Sam beamed. "So glad you approve. He's already given me tons of ideas for how to get you back for the Nair in my shampoo." He opened his mouth to say something else when Adam made a loud noise.

"Ugh! Quit touching me with your stupid girl germs!" Adam pulled away from Anna and crossed his arms over his chest. "Guys. Can we go now?"

Anna furrowed her brows disapprovingly and huffed. "Sheesh, I was just trying to show you something; you don't have to be rude!" She turned away from him, offended, but also visibly hurt. She sulked over to join Castiel and Gabriel, sitting on the edge of the bench.

Dean, holding back his laughter, knelt down beside the twelve-year-old, patting his arm. "Come on, Adam, go easy on her. She thinks you're interesting, and that's more than I can say about most girls. Plus, she's a high schooler, how cool is that?"

Adam huffed and turned away, "She's a girl." he said, as if it explained everything.

Instinctively, Gabriel reached over and ruffled his sister's hair. "Hey, have you eaten yet? I have some money, you can go get some dessert." She smiled a little in response, but shook her head. "I'm all right, thanks."

Sam swung his leg over the bench seat so he was straddling the wood. "He has a point though. I know it doesn't close 'til after midnight, but you promised Kate and dad you'd have Adam home at a decent hour tonight."

Castiel nodded in agreement. "Anna and I have school in the morning. We should get back before it gets too late so she can finish her homework."

"I only have half a page of math, it won't take long; we can stay later!" Anna protested. Simultaneously, Dean checked his watch and sighed. "It's just 4:30, relax," only to be corrected by Sam, "4:45."

"Whatever, Sammy."

Sam held his hands up in defeat. "Hey, I passed on the message and it's totally out of my hands now. Duty as the middle brother, done. You get him home past eight though, and you know what Kate will do to you."

Adam did not take that very well. He whirled around, facing Dean, "Eight?! I'm not a little kid anymore! Sneak me back out when we get home, Dean. I don't want to go to bed early like I'm some baby."

Dean waved his hands defensively. "You know I am all for that, really, I am, but it's not my rules. Kate wants you home before eight, I'll have you home before eight. Sorry, buddy."

Adam stomped his foot. "Oh, I hate all of you!"

Cas was nodding at Anna, "Yes, but I have two pages of physics homework and three chapters of Pride and Prejudice to read and analyze. Let's have fun while we can, okay?"

With a small huff, Anna met her brother's eyes. "Fine. But can we try to win some stuffed animals before we go?"

Cas put his arm around her shoulder, "Of course, I'll win you something. Unless…" he flicked his eyes between her and Adam, and he raised an eyebrow.

As the others conversed, Gabriel slid off of the bench and went over to Sam's side of the table, rocking on his heels. "So," he muttered, "when they leave, do we have to go with them? Eight is pretty damn early."

Sam gave him an amused grin, "What are you suggesting? We ditch our youngest siblings to the misery of homework and laugh at their misfortune?"

"Well, no, obviously not," Gabriel scoffed playfully, "I'm not going to laugh, I was thinking more along the lines of a subtle snicker." He beamed and held his hand out to Sam, offering to pull him up.

Sam took the proffered hand and 'stumbled,' so that he ended up front to front with Gabriel, and wrapped his arms around the smaller man in a hug. "Oops?"

"You're not funny, Gabriel." Anna stuck her tongue again; she seemed to have gotten over Adam's reaction fairly quickly. Then, she turned to Castiel, "You'll really win me something?"

"Of course I will," then, he smirked just a little and leaned in to whisper to her, "If you're very good, I'll even let you watch me win something for Dean."

Anna giggled a little, eyes falling on the elder Winchester for just a moment.

"So, what's the plan?" Dean, unaware that anything had been said regarding him, glanced at both of his brothers, waiting.

Sam looked up from Gabriel's face, "Well, I was thinking we head over to the ferris wheel first. Could be fun." His cheeks turned pink.

Adam side-eyed Anna and inched closer to Dean. "Sure. Ferris wheel sounds fun." He sounded unenthused.

Anna, on the other hand, was ecstatic. "Yes! I've been waiting to go on the Ferris wheel all day! Come on, Cas!"

"Yeah, sounds cool." Dean chuckled, stuffing his hands in his pocket, taking a few steps in the direction of the wheel in the distance.

Gabriel took hold of Sam's arm. "Dibs on sitting with this one!" He announced it as if it was not already a given.

Sam rolled his eyes, but allowed Gabriel to drag him along. When they reached the line for the ride, Castiel leaned down to whisper in his sister's ear, "When it is your turn, grab Adam, and take a seat. I need to speak with Dean regarding Gabriel, alright?"

Anna gave a quick nod, trying not to be too obvious when she eyed Adam.

Gabriel had a steady hold on Sam's arm and was rocking on his heels excitedly; he'd never been on a Ferris wheel before, as ridiculous as that sounded. It intrigued him, and he watched it spin with child-like awe.

Dean stood with his hands still in his pockets, a look of obvious impatience across his face.

The line moved slowly enough, but, when the operator stopped the ride and raised his eyebrows at them, Castiel, swiftly and smoothly, took hold of Dean's arm and tugged him over to the seat, much to Adam's indignation.

Naturally, Dean just shrugged at his little brother and followed Castiel into the basket.

Sam, for his own part, restrained his laughter at the look on Adam's face. When the young man turned to face him, "No," he smiled, "You can't sit with us. Besides, it wouldn't be polite to let Anna sit by herself, would it?"

Adam made a face, "No. You're right." He turned to Anna, a little sullen but seemingly not as grumpy as before, "I guess it's us next." The operator stopped the ride for the next basket and motioned them inside.

Eagerly, Anna made her way to the basket and sat down, patting the spot beside her. "Come on, Adam, don't be a pokey turtle!"

As he waited beside Sam, Gabriel could not help but snicker a little.

Adam glared at Sam and said, "You're gonna regret this," before he climbed into the basket and settled down inside.

"I haven't yet!" he called after the preteen, then turned to Gabriel, grinning. "You know, I'm starting to think it may have been a bad idea to introduce our siblings."

"Eh," Gabriel waved a dismissive hand, starting forward, "they'll get over it." He stepped into the basket, looking back at Sam expectantly.

Sam followed him eagerly, pulling them both into a seat together. It was a little squashed and uncomfortable, but he wrapped his arm around the smaller man and leaned in to nuzzle his cheek. "You make me feel like a sap, you know that?"

"Oh, I make you feel like a sap, huh? Sorry, Sammy, but you're doing that all on your own." Nevertheless, Gabriel leaned against Sam, sighing in contentment. As the ride started moving again, however, the blond began to get antsy, peering over the side of their basket. "Does it stop at every thingy, or do we actually get to go all the way around?"

"I think they stop it at every basket." Sam frowned. "That's going to get tireso-whup!" The ride jerked into motion, but, this time, it didn't stop until they were about halfway up. "Oh look," he pointed, "they've got one of those drop rides!"

Gabriel leaned over a bit further, following Sam's gaze. He stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth. "Man, that one looks really fun. Have you been on it before?" He glanced back at Sam as the Ferris wheel began to bump along once more, their basket swinging slightly.

"Just once. Dad took us to Six Flags." He laughed and rubbed at his face with one hand, "I thought I was going to piss myself. They tilt you forward, right? And you're looking at the ground thinking 'I'm a bug and that's my windshield' and then they don't drop you all at once. They drop you by ten feet at first and take you back up, then drop you again, maybe halfway the second time. Then there are five or so 'mini-drops' before they dropped you all the way."

"Sounds intense," Gabriel murmured, settling down in his seat, "it's funny to think people pay for that, right?" He chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest.

"It's the adrenaline rush. I'd like to go skydiving one day." He grinned and jerked forward as the ferris wheel jolted to a stop, leaving them at the top of the ride. For a moment, Sam sat silent, bathed in the noise of the fairgrounds. He watched Gabriel twist and turn in the seat next to him as he tried to take in the sights, and, after a moment, he put one hand on his boyfriend's (that word still made his heart leap) shoulder and leaned in for a kiss.

Gabriel made a soft noise in surprise, but eased into the kiss without hesitation. There was something about being so high up, away from everything and everyone, that gave this kiss so much more momentum. In that instant, he felt untouchable, as if he was so drastically out of the reach of every problem that had ever plagued him. He would have given anything to hang onto that warm sensation of security; perhaps it was this manner of thinking that caused him to hang onto Sam even tighter than usual.


	7. Chapter 7

Summary:

In which Sam has an extremely interesting dinner with Gabriel's family.

* * *

Sam took a deep breath and stared at Gabriel's front door. Family Dinner-two words that he dreaded more than almost anything in the world; two words which would either gain him family approval or rejection. "And I really want their approval," he muttered, still staring at the door. He took one more deep breath, raised his fist, and knocked on the door.

Just like at the hospital, Lucifer was the one to open the door, those icy pools of blue meeting Sam's eyes. "Hello, Sam." He nodded his head and stepped aside, inviting him in. "Dinner will be ready shortly; you can go ahead and hang out in the living room. I'll get Gabriel."

Sam waved and smiled awkwardly before scuttling inside. "Uh, thanks!" He dug his toe into the welcome mat at the front of the door and hurriedly wiped his feet on it. "Which door is the living room?" He hands twitched restlessly at his side, and he kept trying to shove them into his pockets, only to take them out again.

Lucifer motion to the left. "Take a seat wherever; I'll be right back." With that, he disappeared into the other room. Sam could hear him calling Gabriel's name; shortly afterwards, there came the light pounding of footsteps hurrying down the stairs.

Sam hovered in the doorway. He moved to sit down on the couch, then changed his mind and stood back up. The result was this weird position where he was half stooped over, a hand reaching out for the arm of the couch, when Gabriel arrived.

"You all right there, Samsquatch?" Gabriel cocked a brow, his eyes giving the brunet a once over. "You don't have to stand up on my accord, but I don't think you can take the couch with you to the table." He snorted.

Sam felt his nervousness double. "I… I was just… I was going to sit down, and then I heard you come down the stairs, and I just want your family to like me, a-and...oh god, I'm rambling..." He pressed his lips tightly together and took a few deep breaths through his nose before he even tried to continue. "Sorry, I...I'm extremely nervous." His fingers twitched restlessly.

Smirking in slight amusement, Gabriel offered his hand. "Calm your shit, Sam, jeez; it's dinner, not a goddamn presidential election speech. All you need to do is sit there, eat, occasionally make pleasant conversation, and look pretty-all of which you are good at, especially that last one. Now, come on!"

Sam took the proffered hand with a smile, feeling the tension bleed from him. "As long as I don't get thrown out of the house, I think I'll be all right." He could feel his gut churning only slightly now. He laced their fingers together and took one last deep breath. "Ok. I think I'm good. Sorry about that."

"Quit it with the apologies; seriously, it's getting obnoxious. Just relax!" Gabriel led Sam into the other room, where the dining table was adorn with seven set ups and seats, two of which were already occupied by Anna and Castiel. Anna waved to Sam, then proceeded to get up and run over to give him a hug. She looked particularly tiny beside him-not that her brother didn't already. "I'm glad you could make it, Sam! Dinner is always better with company, after all. You're sitting over there." She pointed to the seat in the middle of the table, on the side opposite to her own seat.

Sam leaned down to hug her tightly and waved a hand at Castiel, who nodded and waved back. "I wouldn't miss a chance like this for the world." Then, he grinned. "You given my brother a call yet, Cas?" he asked, making his way over to his chair.

Castiel flushed and cleared his throat. "Ah, no. Not yet. It's only been a month; I'm taking my time. And I would appreciate the two of you," he squinted first at Anna, then at Gabriel, "to not say anything to our other siblings."

Gabriel took a seat next to Sam and snickered. "I'm not making any promises, Cassy."

Sam laughed and settled himself into his chair. "Don't take too long. He's pretty oblivious with a major case of emotional constipation… unless it's family, of course." He snorted.

"I'll keep that in mind." Cas murmured.

Just then, Lucifer walked in, a container of food in hand. He set it in the middle of the table, muttering a quick apology, as he had to reach over Sam in the process. Two more people, a man with dark hair and a firm jaw, and an African American woman, whom Sam recognized as Raphael, the assistant teacher of his history class, soon followed, each holding some kind of platter to contribute to the meal-Gabriel's other two older siblings, no doubt.

Once the table was completely set, adorn with portions from just about every respective food group, Raphael and Lucifer both took their seats. The dark-haired man, however, approached Sam, offering a hand and introducing himself as Michael.

Sam stood and shook the man's hand. "It's good to finally meet you, sir." Politeness never hurt anyone. "I'm, uh, really glad to be able to share a meal with all of you."

"Please," Michael gave Sam a subtle smile, "it's just Michael. And we are glad to have you." He nodded, and then proceeded to take his seat.

As his brother sat, Lucifer reached forward to begin loading up on food, however, Michael stopped him with the mere clearing of his throat.

"Don't be rude, brother; we have a guest, and I am sure he is as hungry as any of us. Besides, we have yet to say grace." He turned to the youngest of his siblings, his sister, "Anna, you always give such beautiful prayers. Would you mind?"

The redhead nodded, folding her hands and bowing her head accordingly.

"Dear Lord, thank you for this food and the effort put into making it. And a special thank you for our guest, Sam, whom I hope will be joining us again soon, because I know he makes my brother so happy. Bless the nutrition of this food to all of our bodies, that it may work to keep us healthy a-and...and together. Amen."

Lucifer echoed, "Amen," then went for the food again.

Although he was not particularly religious, Sam still bowed his head with the rest of them. When he raised his face at the conclusion of Anna's prayer, his cheeks were pink, and he sent a slightly embarrassed smile Gabriel's way.

Gabriel returned the smile, his cheeks tinted a similar pink.

Cas murmured his "Amen," and then dug an elbow into Anna side, "You're not supposed to embarrass the guests, you little fink."

Anna giggled a little, "I was only saying what was true."

Michael glanced over at Sam and motioned to the food gracing the table. "Please, help yourself."

Sam nodded and reached for a plate of green beans. "So, Anna," he grinned, helping himself to a few spoonfuls, "if we're going to talk about what's true, how about we talk about the crush you have on my little brother?"

Anna was about to answer, when her older sister interjected, "Is this going to be an epidemic? Are there going to be more Winchesters invading our house?" Raphael rolled her eyes and passed the bowl of mashed potatoes to Michael.

Castiel, wisely, kept his mouth shut, his lips pressed into a thin line at his eldest sister's casual dismissal of Sam's family.

"Now, now, Raphael, there's no need for that," Michael sighed and shook his head, leaning over to grab some meat.

"Yeah, seriously. Is there anything that comes out of your mouth that isn't bitter or offensive?" Gabriel scoffed.

Sam reached out, placing a reassuring hand on Gabriel's knee and squeezing. He chewed on the inside of his cheek and deliberately didn't look up at anyone.

Raphael snorted, "Plenty. Just nothing worth saying to you."

Cas slammed a hand into the table. "Please. Sister. We have a guest, can you not be civil for half an hour?"

Raphael raised her eyebrows and sent a questioning look at Michael.

Michael met her gaze and waved a dismissive hand; then, as if to justify the motion, he nodded to the food, "Let's just eat in peace, there's no need for conflict." His gaze flickered to Sam. "I do hope everything is to your liking."

Gabriel didn't say anything else, he simply snickered and started munching away.

Raphael narrowed her eyes and glowered, but returned to her food. Sam got the feeling that someone at the table was going to get an earful from her later, and he wasn't exactly sure who it would be. Cas relaxed back into his seat and rubbed Anna's shoulder reassuringly, while Sam responded to Michael, "Oh, yes. I'm actually on meal plans, so anything home cooked is a real treat for me; this is amazing. Who did the cooking?"

"I did," Raphael said, her usual bite curiously absent from her voice, "Anna helped with dessert though, so be sure to leave room." The compliment was subtle, and her expression hadn't changed.

Sam blinked in bewilderment at the change and gave a cautious smile, "Well, I can't wait."

Anna, naturally, perked up a bit when Raphael credited her. "Dessert isn't an everyday thing here, so I tried to make it extra special!" She announced it to Sam in particular, her tone eager and proud.

"What did you end up making, by the way?" Gabriel piped up curiously, after a good five minutes or so of face-stuffing.

Raphael's jaw rippled, and she forced a small smile. "It's a surprise. I'm not going to spoil it for Anna."

Anna gave an assertive nod, smiling approvingly at her sister's claim.

Sam squeezed Gabriel's leg again, "Well, I'm all for surprises, especially when they pertain to food. There's nothing much better than a good meal in my book."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure food is all you're thinking about right now," Gabriel murmured, just loud enough for Sam to hear. He slid his hand off the table and draped it over Sam's hand, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Cas nodded his agreement and tilted his head at Lucifer, "You've been awful quiet, Luce. Are you feeling all right?"

"Swell," Lucifer replied, glancing over at Castiel, "is my silence really concerning you, or do you just miss the sensational sound of my voice?" He chuckled cooly and poked at his food for a second or two before actually taking a bite. The look in his eye couldn't exactly be classified as bothered, just, preoccupied.

Sam's face flamed, and he fought to keep the smile on his face moderate.

"I suppose," Cas chuckled, "that it's both. You're normally much more vocal at dinner."

Raphael looked like she was fighting back a snarky comment, but, instead, turned back to Sam. "So. Since I missed the introductory class for history, what is it that you're majoring in?"

Sam turned his head and blinked at her for a second, "Oh! Uhm. Right. I'm pre-law right now; I want to be a prosecuting attorney," he shrugged, "You know, help put scumbags behind bars."

Raphael looked slightly impressed, "That… is an admirable goal."

Before Sam could respond, Gabriel leaned against him and butted in, "Told ya I had good taste."

She only scoffed, "Yeah, well, he's definitely a finer choice than that singer you used to bring around."

"Hey," Lucifer pointed his fork in Raphael's direction, wagging it at her as he spoke, "she was a babe! Much better than you could've done." His input was seemingly irrelevant, but he put it in anyway, because Kali was a sensitive subject.

Sam blinked at the pair of them and turned to Gabriel, "You wanna talk about it later?" he asked, trying to not sound too hopeful, or demanding, or anything other than curious. In response, Gabriel shook his head, mumbling something along the lines of how it was not important anyway.

Cas groaned and rolled his eyes, muttering to Anna, "I swear, I'm the only adult at this table," causing her to giggle softly.

"Castiel, the other day you asked me what motorboating meant; I'm pretty sure most adults already have that knowledge." Lucifer sassed, leaning back in his chair and raising a leg to rest his foot on the table. Michael cleared his throat disapprovingly, and, with a huff, Lucifer returned to his previous position before his heel touched the tablecloth. "Killjoy."

Anna, meanwhile, straightened up just a tad and looked around. "You guys almost ready for dessert?"

"I was born ready, little sis." Gabriel beamed, tapping his fork against his empty plate.

"Quit that," Raphael hissed, "you know it hurts my ears."

"The sooner you finish your food, and I get my dessert, the sooner it stops." He then proceeded to get his knife involved.

"Gabriel, I am serious. You're giving me a headache."

"Sorry, can't hear you over the sound of my stomach's desperate cry for dessert."

Utterly amused, Lucifer thought it was a good time for him to join in, and he began clicking the back of his spoon against the very edge of his plate.

"Alright, enough, enough! Dessert will be served soon enough." Michael rubbed his temples in slight irritation.

The two stopped shortly after, both exchanging a glance that resulted in childish pouts.

"I rest my case." Castiel sighed, the ghost of a smile appearing on his lips.

Alternatively, Sam was beginning to see why Raphael disliked Gabriel so much. "You should probably try to be a little nicer," he murmured, "maybe she wouldn't snap at you so much then?" He squeezed Gabriel's knee, "You shouldn't quit your day job," he said a little louder for the benefit of the table, "You'd make an awful drummer."

Castiel snickered into his drink and Raphael looked like she was fighting a smile. It seemed as though she was actually warming up to him. Sam figured if he could turn up the charm enough, he could win her over. The only one he was worried about, however, was Lucifer, who, in contrast to everyone else, looked unamused.

He leaned forward and, in the most seriously tone imaginable, asked, "And what do you think of my drumming, Sam? Think I should go into music instead of medicine?"

Sam replied in the most deadpan tone he could manage, "I think you'd have better success with a heartbeat than a drumbeat."

Castiel choked on his tea and tried, unsuccessfully, to smother his laughter behind his hand. Raphael couldn't hide her small smile, and, even Anna giggled. Michael didn't show much reaction, but, then again, he was on his way back to the kitchen anyway-hopefully to get dessert, Gabriel had murmured to Sam prior.

For a moment, Lucifer watched Sam with a look that more resembled a shark than a human being, his eyes unreadable. Then, a sharp, approving smile cracked his facade. "That's the idea, anyway."


	8. Chapter 8

In which Sam and Gabriel venture to the mall, and Gabriel picks out some interesting attire for Sam's wardrobe.

* * *

Sam tugged on the shoulder of Gabriel's sweater, "Dude, look at these graphics!" He stared wide-eyed at the display TV, which was showing off the latest first-person shooter game from Sony. "Can you believe this? Look at the stubble on that guy's face," he squinted at the screen, "and you can see each sweat droplet too. Holy crap!"

Gabriel cocked a brow and leaned in to examine the screen that had Sam so fixated. "Pretty damn impressive. You gonna look into getting that one?"

Sam gnawed on his bottom lip, "I dunno. You gonna play it with me if I do? I've never been one for playing these by myself. Dean and I usually did that, but now he's busier than ever, what, with the garage taking off, and your brother inconspicuously trying to wedge his way into his life." He laughed.

"Yeah, of course I'll play it will you! But, be warned, I can't promise it won't result in gushing tears and your utter defeat." Gabriel smirked, crossing his arms. "Now, you just gonna stand there and gape, or are you going to buy it so I can kick your ass?"

"Oh, you are on," Sam snagged the case off of the shelf, "I'm gonna kick your short ass all over the room, you know that? I've been playing against Dean, you're the one that's going to end up in tears." Sam laughed and rested his elbow on Gabriel's shoulder. "What do you think about that?"

"I think that, until you've beaten Lucifer three times in a row in Super Street Fighter, you got nothing on me!" He replied smugly, pushing Sam's elbow away in a manner that was nothing short of playful.

Sam flashed a grin and swept the smaller man up in a tight hug, using the closeness as an attempt to convey the influx of emotions he was feeling. He nuzzled Gabriel's neck and pressed a small kiss just behind his ear, pulling back only so he could head over to the checkout counter. "We'll see about that."

Gabriel hung back while Sam bought the game, hiding his face in the sleeves of his sweater. The other man's attentiveness had left him flustered and pink in the face, which was not exactly something he was used to quite yet. Not that he could complain, he just didn't want to announce it; Sam would never allow him to live it down and rightfully so. Gabriel never let Sam live anything down either.

"You ready to go, or would you like to explore a little more?" He asked coolly, once Sam walked over, plastic bag in hand.

"We've got the whole day to ourselves, plus, I promised Kate I'd pick up some clothes that weren't plaid shirts and blue jeans." He shrugged and grinned a little sheepishly.

Gabriel only laughed, "Alrighty then, where to next?" He reached down and took Sam's free hand.

"The Gap?" Sam suggested, shrugging. "I don't really know where to get clothes here. I usually go to goodwill. It's cheap, and they still last long enough." He frowned, "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Er, well, shopping isn't exactly my strong point, but I can tell you what you will look good in." Gabriel pursed his lips. "Wanna just look around?"

"We can do that. Although," he grinned, "can I actually trust you to not make me look like a heathen, for my stepmother?"

"You can trust me to make you look good, that's all I'm promising!" Gabriel tugged on Sam's hand, dragging him across the causeway.

They'd been clothes shopping for about an hour and, so far, Gabriel had convinced Sam to try on several multi-colored scarves, some strange western vest, a fancy red jacket with a ridiculously long trail, and a pair of (extremely tight) jean shorts, not to mention a variety of other strange outfits Sam would rather not bring up to anyone, ever. "Now, I know these aren't your usual style, but, trust me, Sam, they'll make your butt look fantastic!" Gabriel thrust a pair of dark green skinny jeans into Sam's hands, insistent that he try them on.

Sam eyed the jeans dubiously. "That's what you said about those hideous purple things you had me try on earlier." He took them from Gabriel and stepped back into the dressing room. Shimmying out of his own pants, he reached for the jeans he'd been handed and half-slithered, half-yanked them on. He twisted his upper body to stare into the mirror and shrugged, unlatching the door and stepping out to show his boyfriend.

When Sam reemerged, Gabriel hopped up, beaming. "See, what'd I tell you? They look hot on those long legs of yours! Very nice!"

Sam twisted around to stare at his legs, "You sure about that? This color makes me look like a beanpole." He tried shoving his hands in the pocket and found they were sewn shut. "Wait," he stared down at them again, "Gabe, are these girls jeans?"

"Of course not! I mean, Sammycakes, you've got the hips, but I doubt they make women's jeans that length." He leaned down to examine the pants. "Erm. I mean, the leg is a tinsy bit short, but...I think they look good!"

"I told you not to make me look like a heathen. Dad and Kate will have a stroke if they see me in this." Sam said, dismayed. Then he huffed and smiled, "I'll wear them for you, though. Only you! Dad and the rest of them will never ever see these."

Gabriel snickered, winking at Sam. "I look forward to it! Are you satisfied with your new wardrobe, or are we heading elsewhere? I'm kinda enjoying picking clothes out for you." He laughed.

Sam tilted his arm and gave his watch a quick once over. "Well, it's still early. You wanna go check out Spencer's and see if we can't find something truly epic to prank Dean with?"

"You know I'm all for that!" Gabriel replied eagerly, his grin widening tenfold. He gathered up the clothing Sam had decided on and headed for the front.

Sam slipped back into the dressing room and peeled the jeans off, shuffling back into his worn and comfortable ones. He grabbed the jeans and jogged to catch up to Gabriel, setting the jeans on the counter with the rest of the clothes.

Gabriel drummed on the counter, looking up when Sam arrived. "Oh good, we're all rung up, we were just waiting on you, slow poke!"

"Did you tell her you'd picked out these for me too," Sam indicated the dark green pants with a hand wave.

"Oh yes, of course!" Gabriel handed them to the lady behind the counter, who rung them up with a chuckle. "Now, we're all ready!"

Sam handed his credit card over to the lady and rolled his eyes at Gabriel's behavior. "Did you really expect me to wear those out of the store, you goober?"

"Hey, a guy can dream, Samsquatch." He elbowed Sam playfully as the lady swiped the card and bagged the purchases.

Sam took the bags and his card back from the woman. "You've got high dreams for such a little guy, you know."

"Well, yeah, I suppose," he rested his hands on his hips, cocking a brow, "you are a rather tall dream."

With that, Gabriel started on forward, that usual bounce in his step. "Coming, Sammy?" He made it quite a ways ahead, however, two or three stores down, he slowed, catching the side of a fence and leaning against it. Sam could see him mouth, 'Shit;' still, he crossed his arms and tried to play it off.

Sam broke into a jog to try and catch up. "Gabe?" Worry permeated his voice, "Are you okay?"

"Who, me?" Gabriel gave a breathless laugh. "I'm fantastic, super-duper, never better!" His arms slid down from where he had crossed them over his chest, and he grabbed hold of one of the fence's thin bars. "Er, wh-which way is Spencer's a-again?"

Sam caught up with a few long strides and put his arm around Gabriel's shoulder, not buying it, not for a second. "Talk to me."

Gabriel sighed, tucking his hair behind his ears. "It's n-nothing, Sam, really. I just feel a little lightheaded is all; I'll be fine in a minute."

Sam decided not to push the issue. "Alright," he said slowly, "just let me know if it starts to get worse, and we can go sit down somewhere. Okay?"

"Yeah, o-okay." Gabriel lingered on the fence for another moment before stepping away, and, when he did, he all but fell against Sam. He retaliated quickly enough, though his hand still gripped the back of Sam's shirt. "I'm good, I'm okay! Just tripped!"

Gabriel was full of shit, and they both knew it; it was just easier not to argue.

Sam clenched his teeth against a flood of worry and just stood there, supporting the smaller man as best he could. "Come on, you," he tried to keep his tone lighthearted, "let's get to Spencer's before your feet can find another rock to trip over."

"Yes, mother." he murmured in reply, pressing close to Sam. By some miracle, they made it do Spencer's, but, at that point, Gabriel no longer had his previous enthusiasm. "I...think I might sit this one out, Sam, 'm sorry."

"No, no, it's alright!" Sam ushered him away from the door of the store and over to a bench to sit and catch his breath. "You, sit. Try to relax. Let me call Lucifer to come and get us," he pulled his cell out of his pocket.

"No," Gabriel swatted at Sam's hand, "don't be ridiculous, I'm fine! C-Come on, go in there and get something that will give your brother a run for his money! I'll even join you in a few minutes, give you some prank wisdom."

Sam shook his head, "I'm not leaving you out here by yourself. You're not fine, quit pretending you are." He took Gabriel's hand in his own, and his heart sank at how chilled the smaller man's skin felt. "I'm not going anywhere."

Looking down, Gabriel sighed, "Fine, but you gotta let me make it up to you next time." He smirked a little. "And, I have to admit, I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't get to pick out a surprise for Dean today."

Sam pulled Gabriel into a hug and buried his face in the smaller man's neck. "I don't care what we do, or don't get to do, as long as you're okay," he mumbled into Gabriel's skin.

"You worry too much, Sam," Gabriel shivered against Sam's lips, reaching up to pat the other man's head, a luxury he did not get often, "it's damn cute. I'll be okay, promise."

Sam laughed, "Shut up. M'not cute. I'm manly, and you know it." He hugged Gabriel tighter, his next words coming out a whisper, "Don't make promises you can't keep."

Gabriel was quiet for a long while after that, leaning against Sam and staring upwards. Then, without warning, "You haven't called Luci yet, right? I wanna get ice cream before he comes to scold me for it. Can we get ice cream?"

"Yeah," Sam smiled and pressed a kiss to Gabriel's forehead, "let's go get ice cream."


	9. Chapter 9

In which there is a family dinner and some problems

* * *

When the tables turned, and it was time for Sam to host a family dinner, it was unclear who was more nervous: Gabriel or Lucifer.

Maybe it was just the fact that his brother had been a bit worse for wear as of late, but Lucifer didn't like the idea of Gabriel going somewhere so...unfamiliar, even if Sam was with him.

"Do you have your medication?"

"Yeah, it's in my bag."

"And your cell phone is fully charged this time?"

"Yes, charged it before we left."

"You're sure you're feeling well enough?"

"Yes, for the love of god, quit babying me!" Gabriel huffed in irritation. "Are you actually going to let me go, or are we going to play twenty questions through dinner instead?"

Lucifer sighed; perhaps he was being overbearing. He'd never used to get this way.

"Yeah, you can go."

Gabriel practically hopped out of the passenger seat, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Thank you! I'll call you when I'm ready to come home." Eagerly, and with a twinge of anxiety, he started for the door.

"And Gabriel..."

The blond turned mid-step, eying his brother suspiciously.

"Behave yourself." Lucifer chuckled dryly.

Gabriel only grinned, "Never thought I'd hear that from you," and resumed his approach once more.

"Yeah, me either," with a grunt, Lucifer slouched down in the seat of his truck, deciding he would wait until he saw Gabriel go inside before driving off.

Adam opened the door when Gabriel knocked and latched himself onto the man's waist in a hug. "You're here! Oh man, Sam has been practically tearing his hair out waiting for you to get here!"

"Oy, rugrat! Get your grimy little hands off of him, and let him come inside." Sam appeared in the doorway, making a cursory attempt at a grumpy face before his delight took over, causing him to crack a grin. "Glad to see you made it in one piece," he chuckled, "is that Lucifer I see out in the car, hovering in our driveway like a mother hen?" Sam spoke loud enough for Lucifer to hear.

In response, Lucifer flipped him the bird and was much more resolved in his decision to drive off quickly.

Gabriel, naturally, got a good laugh out of it, and it was enough to keep his nerves at bay. "So, you gonna introduce me to the rest of the crew, or are we going to stand out here all night and laugh about my overprotective brother?"

Sam laughed, "No, no. Come in. Kate's in the kitchen, putting on the finishing touches, and I think Dad is out back tinkering on something or other. He'll probably come to the table all covered in grease."

Adam rolled his eyes, "And Dean is in my room trying to steal my Xbox," he let go of Gabriel and wiggled past Sam to get inside, "I'm gonna go beat him with that foam sword I got at the fair!" And, with that, the little munchkin dashed off.

"Give him a good ol' whack over the head for me!" Gabriel chuckled and stepped inside, shimmying out of his jacket and slipping his shoes off. "Dunno what your step mother's cooking, but it sure smells great." He beamed, practically tackling Sam in a hug.

Sam wrapped his arms around Gabriel and bent low to bury his face in the smaller man's neck. "I know I saw you two days ago," he mumbled, "but I missed you. Dinner's going to be more of what we had at the picnic," he lipped at Gabriel's neck, "you'll love it."

"I know I will," he replied, shivering and tilting his head ever so slightly, "my question is, why are you treating me to dessert first? You'll spoil both of our appetites." Gabriel wiggled in Sam hold, pressing a soft kiss just beneath his earlobe; oh, he thought he was so clever.

Sam hummed thoughtfully, "Just whetting your appetite." He grinned and pulled free of the embrace. "Come on, let me introduce you to Kate." He took hold of Gabriel's hand.

Gabriel followed Sam closely, pressing himself against the taller man's arm. He stomach was doing somersaults, but he played his nervousness off well; staying collected was one thing he could do fairly well.

"Kate?" Sam called out in the dining room, heading into the kitchen, "He's here!"

Sam's step mother glanced over, smiling brightly as the two entered the kitchen. "Ah, welcome, welcome! I would greet you properly, but. . ." she looked down at her hands, which were damp from washing pans, "please, have a seat and make yourself at home. Maybe you can show him around, Sam?"

Gabriel nodded his head politely and thanked her, finding her genuine smile reassuring.

"Give him the fifty-cent tour?" He laughed, "Sure, I can do that." Sam tugged on Gabriel's hand again, "This way, back into the dining room."

"Yes, captain." Gabriel continued to follow the brunet, looking around as they walked. Sam's home was nice, and warm, and humble; he really liked it.

Sam pointed out the rooms as they passed them and paused at the stairs, "And up there, in the darkest reaches of the upstairs, are the rooms belonging to me, Dean, and Adam. Wanna see 'em?"

"Ffft, yes! Of course," Gabriel started up the stairs, still holding onto Sam's hand, "you've seen my room once or twice, it's only fair that I get to see where you sleep." He smirked, tugging on Sam's fingers impatiently.

Sam raised his eyebrows and smirked, "Well, I suppose if that's the way you're going to be about it…" He took the stairs two at a time, and, when he reached the top, he pointed to the left, where sounds of a struggle were coming from behind a closed door, "Dean and Adam's rooms are over that way, mine's to the right. Come on." Sam pulled him over to a room guarded by a plain white door.

Gabriel leaned against the wall, waiting patiently for Sam to open the door and make the big reveal. He wasn't exactly sure what to expect-Sam was a relatively tidy person, but, then again, he was also a college student, one that was full of surprises, at that.

Sam licked his lips and threw the door open… and blinked in surprise. "I know I haven't been home in a while, but damn." The room was spotless and lacy curtains covered the windows, and a frilly comforter graced the bed. "Okay, so. This is new."

"Oh, this is priceless!" Gabriel grinned and hopped on the bed, bouncing and playing with the frills of the comforter. "I was expecting a surprise, but you've really outdone yourself this time, Sam-a-lam!"

"Just as much of a surprise to me as it is to you," he stared at the lacy things in growing horror, "She can't expect me to sleep in here, can she?" He eyed Gabriel on the bed, a sly smile curving his lips, "It feels like a stranger's bed," he loomed over Gabriel and crawled up on the bed so he was braced on all four limbs, hovering over the smaller man.

Gabriel looked up at him, a smirk pulling at his lips. "Just strange enough, right?" He laughed a little, stretching his arms to wrap around Sam's neck.

"Mmm." Sam dipped his head down and pressed his lips to Gabriel's lips. His fingers dug into the embroidered coverlet, and he could feel the warmth radiating from the smaller man's body. He hummed into the kiss and tilted his head slightly, so he could nuzzle Gabriel's face at the same time.

Gabriel returned the kiss gladly, pulling himself up to meet Sam halfway, his fingers tugging at the other man's hair. He breathed in deeply through his nose, taking in Sam's scent, as well as the faint smell of perfume that lingered in the room-both were sweet and filled him with a sensation of warmth, which was just as real as the physical heat intensifying between them.

"Saaam!" The door slammed open, and Sam jerked backwards to stare at Adam, who watched them with wide eyes. "Uh. Dean's being mean to me," he finished lamely.

Before Sam or Gabriel could give any real reaction, Dean appeared from behind Adam, grabbing the twelve-year-old. "C-Come on, buddy, dinner is almost ready!" He practically threw his little brother over his shoulder and shut the door, giving Sam a sheepish smile just before disappearing.

Sam turned back to look at Gabriel, a silly smile on his face. "Well, nothing like a baby brother to break the mood wide open." He laughed.

Gabriel had since dropped his arms and was pushing his hair back, chuckling beneath a sigh, "At least dinner's almost ready. The question is, do we dare show our faces at the table now? I'm afraid we may have scarred the poor kid for life."

"That's his fault," Sam retorted, "besides, it's the job of older brothers to scar the younger ones for life. It's expected, anticipated even!"

"I'll have to check my 'Big Brother Handbook,' but, with how much I've already scarred poor Cas, I'm sure you're right." Gabriel leaned up to press one more kiss to Sam's lips, then, wiggled out from under the taller man, and off of the bed. "Come on, I'm starving!"

Sam flopped face first into the bed momentarily, sighing into the perfumed comforter. Then, he rolled over and off the bed, following Gabriel down the stairs.

Naturally, Gabriel had waited for him; he didn't want to enter the lion pit alone. Besides, he didn't know where his seat was at the dining room table-wouldn't want to take anyone's chair by mistake.

When they entered the dining room, Dean and Adam were already seated on one side of the table. "Kate sits on this end," Sam indicated the side closest to the kitchen, "And Dad sits on the other end. Go ahead and sit in one of the seats, I want to go talk to Kate about something," And, at that, he slipped into the kitchen.

Adam was looking anywhere but at Gabriel when Sam left and kept poking Dean in the side.

"Quit it," Dean hissed, swatting Adam's hand away, "unless you want me to bend your finger back like I bent your foam sword."

Gabriel took a seat, chuckling softly at the bickering. He drummed his fingers on the table boredly, waiting for Sam to return.

Adam whined and poked Dean again. "But Deeean!" he darted a suspicious look at Gabriel, "Dean, what if that's what she was talking about at the fair!" he tried to keep his voice down, but failed miserably.

"I doubt it, Adam," he growled tiredly, "now stop it or, I swear, I will make sure you don't get any dessert!"

Gabriel snickered, "Now, now, no need to be so harsh."

"I'll eat yours too." Dean threatened, causing Gabriel to give an unimpressed gasp.

"I'd like to see you try, bucko."

"But," Adam flailed his arms a bit, "she's a girl, and they're all into that stuff!" He snorted and turned a frustrated gaze on Gabriel, "How good is Anna at video games?"

"Pretty damn good, actually; you should invite her over to play sometime, could be fun." Gabriel gave Adam a little wink, leaning back in his chair.

Adam made a distressed noise, "That's the problem. She wants to come over and play games, and, now, I don't know what she means by that!"

"Trust me, whatever games she has in mind are the good kind; I'd take her up on that offer." Gabriel couldn't help but get a kick out of Adam's concern. Dean simply rolled his eyes.

Just then, Kate stepped out of the kitchen, a steaming tray in hand. "I hope you boys are hungry."

Sam followed close behind her carrying another huge platter, "Adam, go get dad, alright?"

Adam nodded and dashed out of his seat, sliding to a stop at the back door and opening it to yell, "DAD. DINNER'S READY."

Sam chuckled and set the platter of ham on the table, "I said go get him, not yell at him!"

Adam turned back to Sam and stuck his tongue, scrambling out of the way as John clunked into the house, his heavy steel toed boots crusted with mud and grease. "Smells good." He thumped into the kitchen and gave Kate a kiss on the cheek.

Sam licked his lips and smiled a stiffly, "Dad, this is Gabriel. I told you about him, remember?"

John squinted at Gabriel, studying him for just a bit too long, "So, he's the one? The songwriter?"

"My boyfriend, dad."

John grunted and sat down in his usual spot.

Gabriel gave John a nervous little wave; he had started to stand to shake hands, but, when the older man had gone to sit, showing no interest, he'd felt stupid and sat back down himself.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Winchester." Gabriel spoke with much more confidence than he felt.

When John didn't look like he was going to respond, Sam prodded his father in the back of the head. "Dad," Sam smiled tightly, "I know you have hearing problems, but he's right there. Are they getting worse?"

Adam nodded vigorously from his place at the table, but John shook his head, "No. Course not! I can hear just fine. I was just," he shrugged, "searching for the right response."

Sam shook his head and headed back into the kitchen for more food.

John squinted in Gabriel's direction, "It's good to have you here. You're the first boy Sam's brought home, though. How did you two meet?"

"O-Oh, er, we...we met at the coffee shop a ways down the street." Gabriel made an attempt at a genuine smile; he felt like John didn't like him much.

John's smile was small and fell flat as he leaned back in his chair. "Coffee shop, huh? That frou-frou place with all the tea?" he snorted. "Real men drink their coffee black."

Sam came through the door again, carrying a casserole dish. "No dad, people with no taste buds drink their coffee black." His voice sounded weary, as if he'd had that same argument with John many times before. Sam sent an encouraging smile at Gabriel before settling down in the seat just beside him and grabbing his hand. "Kate's got one more dish to bring out, and then we can start."

There was a muttered, "Finally," from Adam's direction.

No sooner had Sam spoken, when Kate emerged from the kitchen and set the last dish on the table, taking a seat. "Thank you all for your patience; dinner is served."

Gabriel had instinctively leaned closer to Sam and was chewing his cheek anxiously. He glanced around the table, wondering if that was their cue to dig in-even if it had been, he was going to wait from someone else to start.

Sam squeezed Gabriel's hand reassuringly as John raised an eyebrow in Dean's direction, "You gonna give the blessing, boy?"

Dean nodded and bowed his head, and everyone else did the same, Gabriel included.

"Dear God," he cleared his throat, buying himself some time as he tried to think of what to say, "thank you for the food before us and for Kate's awesome cooking skills. Hopefully everyone will enjoy it, because I know I sure do. Oh and please forgive Adam for kicking his feet through the whole prayer," the quiet whooshing sound of the table cloth moving stopped, "and an extra thank you for good company. Amen."

"Amen." Gabriel repeated, trying to smother the amused grin that had snuck to his face while their heads were bowed; Dean was about as bad at praying as Lucifer was.

John grunted and reached for a ladle to spoon some mashed potatoes onto his plate, "Adequate," he snorted, "try to be a little more respectful of the Lord next time." He squinted down the table at Gabriel, and Sam braced silently braced himself. "Do you think mocking the Lord at the table is funny or something?"

Caught off guard, John's comment knocked the smile from Gabriel's face completely. "O-Oh me? No, no, no, of course not, I...I just…"

"Let the boy alone, John," Kate rolled her eyes, neatly arranging portions of food on Adam's plate-at the expense of the twelve-year-old's pride, his face clearly showed, "he wasn't mocking the Lord, he was simply amused by your son's inability to give a sincere prayer."

"H-Hey," Dean protested, "it wasn't that bad!

"It was better than last time, I'll give you that much." Kate smiled to herself, handing Adam his plate, "Eat your vegetables or no dessert; don't you give me that face, I only gave you a little bit."

Adam pouted, but shoveled the vegetables in first, making a disgusted face as he did so.

Sam, meanwhile, ran his fingers gently across the back of Gabriel's hand, portioning his food out with his other hand. "Gabriel's just not used to anything less than a serious blessing," he said, loading up on glazed carrots, "his little sister Anna is very respectful, as is the rest of his family. I'm sure Dean just caught him off guard, like Kate said."

John's lips thinned, and he looked as if he was going to rebuke Sam or Kate, maybe both. "Dean" he said finally, "do a better job next time."

"Yes, sir." Dean grumbled, shooting Sam a glare that screamed, 'Thank you for sending all of the negative attention my way, you ass.' Then, he began to load his own plate.

Gabriel just sat there a moment, slipping his hand free of Sam's grip and clenching both hands into fists against his jeans. If his heart hadn't been pounding before, it certainly was now. He was trying not to let it get to him, but he just felt like he was fucking everything up.

Sam watched Gabriel from the corner of his eye, finally turning to whisper, "You all right?" He was all but oblivious to the way John's stare burned holes into his back. "We can go if you need to; I'm not going to make you stay here if it's causing a problem."

Gabriel laughed dryly and gave Sam the most convincing smile he could muster. "And miss out on this glorious feast? Nah, I'm good, Samsquatch." He made a real effort to ignore John.

"So, Sam," John pointed a fork at his middle son, "how are your classes going? I know finals are coming up, and I haven't seen you study any since you've been home on this break."

Sam twisted in his seat, "That's because it's break, dad."

"If you're going to waste your time going to college," John started, "then, by God, you're going to make-"

"Dad!" Adam said, distressed, "Dad, please. Sam's been working hard, I know he has."

"Yeah, cut him some slack," Dean spoke up a little more quietly, poking at his food, "you haven't brought anything up the whole time he's been home, why is now any different?"

Gabriel sunk down deeper into his chair; the subject at hand had nothing to do with him whatsoever, yet, he could not help but feel that he was somehow responsible for bringing about conflict.

"Boys, eat your food before it gets cold. Come on, you know how I feel about arguments at the table." Kate tapped her fingers against the table, eying her husband in particular.

John had the decency to look ashamed, "Sorry, hon." He went back to his food, but kept side eying Gabriel.

In his heat, Sam turned back to Gabriel, attempting to reassure him with hushed murmurs, "It isn't you. Don't ever think it's-"

"Sam," John's voice cut him off, and he winced.

"Yeah, Dad?"

"A man, Sam?" he sounded bewildered, not angry or accusing, just confused.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Dad, please. Can we talk about this after dinner?"

"I-I have to use the restroom," Gabriel interjected, standing, "excuse me." Legs shaking, he left the table, heading in the direction of what he hoped was the bathroom

Adam leapt up from the table and followed after. "I'll show you where it is!" he declared.

Sam bit his bottom lip and clenched his teeth. "Dad. I need you to stop."

"I'm just asking you a question, boy!" John half stood up from his seat, "And you will show me respect or, so help me God, I'll-"

"You'll what? Ridicule me some more? Tell me how worthless my life choices are?"

"Enough, both of you!" Kate was red in the face, out of embarrassment as well as anger. "I'm surprised at all of you. We finally get to have a nice, sit-down, family dinner, and you ruin it with your bickering! I wouldn't be surprised if Gabriel never comes by ever again!"

Dean looked down, feeling awkward and somewhat ashamed, even if most of the blame did not fall on him. When Kate was unhappy, everyone was unhappy.

Sam clenched his fists and finally settled back down. "You're right, Kate. I apologize."

John looked like he wanted to say something as well, but the look his wife gave him cut him off, and he went back to poking at his potatoes in silence.

Kate cleared her throat and refolded her napkin. "Now, maybe we'll actually get to dessert without a casualty."

Meanwhile, Gabriel was trailing Adam to the bathroom, his palm pressed against the wall to keep himself up. His heart was pounding so rapidly and loudly in his ears, that he couldn't hear any of what was going on at the table; he couldn't focus on anything else.

"I...I can t-ta-take it fr'm here, kid," he wheezed, hoping to send Adam away before the inevitable happened.

Adam frowned and turned around, his eyes going wide upon seeing Gabriel's state, "Are you okay? Should I go get Sam?"

"N-No, no," he made an attempt at a reassuring smile, "don't bother Sam, 'm...'m fi-fine." Gritting his teeth, Gabriel leaned back against the wall, trying desperately to steady himself. The hand he kept pressed against his chest did absolutely nothing to help the painful pounding and, regardless of how many times he blinked, the room wouldn't stop spinning.

Adam didn't have to run and get Sam; Gabriel hit the ground hard enough to alert everyone that something was up.

Sam stood from the table so fast, his chair clattered to the tile. Adam's panicked, "Sam!?" had him loping through the house just as quickly, and, when he saw Gabriel on the floor, Sam practically fell to his knees beside him. "Gabe?" He cradled Gabriel to his person, his heart in his throat, "G-Gabriel? H-Hey...Hey, can you hear me?" It was a ridiculous question, but he murmured it all the same.

Sam pressed his middle and index fingers to Gabriel's wrist, visibly relaxing when he felt a pulse. Just to be safe, he moved the hand up and over the unconscious man's mouth, and slumped back against the wall when he felt the gentle flow of air. "Just passed out," he murmured, pulling Gabriel to his chest, "You idiot. You have to tell people when it gets this bad."

Adam headed straight for Kate as soon as he saw Sam take hold of Gabriel, and John was right behind his middle child, hovering nervously in the doorway. "Is he all right, son?" he legitimately sounded worried, "What's wrong?"

Sam thumped his head back against the wall. "He has Dilated Cardiomy-a heart condition, Dad, he has a heart condition. Go get me his bag, please. There's some stuff in it we need, and I need to call his brother."

John didn't hesitate; he went into the living room, snatched the bag up and delivered it to Sam's side. "He had an attack because of me, didn't he?" John knelt next to his son, "I'm sorry. I don't have a problem… with him… being a him, you know. It just took me by surprise, is all."

Sam snorted. "Tell him that yourself when he wakes up." He smoothed Gabriel's hair back from his forehead.

Kate stood at John's side, hugging Adam against her hip. She looked worried, but she didn't say anything.

Dean, on the other hand, made his way over to Sam and Gabriel. He had been the last to arrive, but he certainly wasn't wasting time now. "What can I do, Sammy?"

"Get the Vasotec out of his bag for me-two pills." Sam turned his gaze on his father, "And dig the cell phone out for me, Dad. I need you to find Lucifer's number, dial it, and hold the phone to my head please."

"On it." Dean dug through the bag for a moment, pulling out a couple of different pill containers before finding the correct bottle. He emptied two orange pills into his hand and offered them to Sam.

John nodded and pulled the phone out, scrolling through the contacts.

"Come on, Adam, honey, I need help clearing the table." Kate led her son back towards the dining room, keeping a hand against his back to soothe him.

Adam kept glancing back over his shoulder until he and Kate were out of sight.

Sam sighed in relief and took the pills from his brother, "Go get me a glass of water, please, Dean." He angled his head a little when John held the phone up, waiting for Lucifer to pick up.

By the time Dean returned with the water, Lucifer had answered. Expecting Gabriel, he'd simply greeted with, "Done already? I would have thought you'd want to stay until at least nine."

Sam took a shaky breath, "Hey, Luce, dinner got cut a little short. Ga-"

"What happened?" Lucifer cut Sam off the second he realized he wasn't speaking with Gabriel, his voice sharp and grave-his way of expressing concern.

"Gabriel had a fainting spell," Sam continued, slightly taken aback, "he's all right; I'm about to give him the Vasotec." He motioned to Dean to set the water next to him, and Dean complied without hesitation.

There came a heavy sigh from the other line. "I take it he's still out?" Sam barely had time to give confirmation before Lucifer added, "I'll be right over," and hung up.

Sam nodded at John, who took the phone away and tucked it back into the bag. "His older brother's on the way. Now, we just have to wait for him to wake, then we can give him the medication."

John nodded. "Is he going to be all right?"

"For tonight he will be, but," Sam shook his head slowly, "I looked up the condition. It's, uh," he choked, "it's…generally incurable-in his case, probably inevitably fatal. Unless he gets a heart transplant…" he trailed off, bowing his head to hide threatening tears.

"I'm sorry to hear that." John looked away.

Dean took a seat beside Sam, sighing quietly. Then, after a few minutes of lingering, he announced, "I'm going to go help Kate clean up," standing to join Kate and Adam in the other room.

John followed after his eldest son, and Sam was left alone with Gabriel.

Sam sat there combing his hand through Gabriel's hair, making soft murmuring noises. "Don't worry, Gabe, I've got you."

For the first time in the several minutes he had been out, Gabriel began to show signs of responsiveness. His brows furrowed, and he began to twitch restlessly, an occasional, 'Mm,' escaping his lips. Then, after a notable while of stirring, his eyes opened into slits.

"S-Sam…? Wha…?" Gabriel grunted a little.

"Hey," Sam's breath stuttered out of him in a relieved sigh, "you got a little worked up and passed out. You're all right now though; I've got your Vasotec right here with a glass of water, and Lucifer is on his way. How are you feeling?"

"Mm," he laughed breathlessly, "pretty shitty, but your face is definitely an improvement." Gabriel reached up and patted Sam's cheek, then proceeded to grab hold of it and tug, snorting.

"Forget about my face," Sam reached for the pills, "you should take your medication."

Gabriel dropped his hand, making a face. "Fiiinnne." He attempted to sit up, made a few noises of frustration, and slumped back down, visibly wincing.

Sam wrapped his arms around Gabriel's torso and levered him up. "Here, lean against me." He helped Gabriel turn, so that the smaller man was sitting between his legs, his back propped against his chest.

"Th-Thanks." Gabriel reached for the glass of water, trying to keep his hands steady; he ended up spilling some on himself anyway. "Dammit..."

"It's all right. Don't worry about it." Sam reached around, "You want me to help you with it?"

There was an uncomfortable throat clearing from the doorway, and John, once he had their attention, took a deep breath, "Gabriel," he started, "I want to apologize. My… behavior tonight has been unacceptable. I wasn't upset at Sam's choice, not in the slightest." He sighed "I've never been good at asking the right questions, and what I wanted to know came across all wrong. Can you forgive me?"

Gabriel was quiet a moment, letting his words sink in, and, honestly, it set his mind at ease, if only just a little. "I-It's all right, Mr. Winchester." He cracked a smile. "Forgiven, forgotten!"

John smiled, the relief obvious on his face. "Alright, I'm going to leave you two alone and go finish helping Kate. Holler if you need anything."

Sam nodded, "Sure thing, Dad." Then, he rested his head on Gabriel's shoulder, "You sure it's okay? I can rip him a new one for you if you want me to."

"No, no, it's fine, Sam; no harm done." He meant that loosely, of course. "Can I have the Vasotec?"

"Yeah, yeah. Of course." Sam held out the hand holding the pills. "You take two, right?"

"Depends," Gabriel took the pills in his hand, "but, yeah, that works." Being careful not to spill anymore water-it was getting easier, as the shaking was beginning to go away-he slid the pills between his lips and downed them with a swig from the glass.

Sam waited until Gabriel had set the glass down again to pull him in close and bury his face into Gabriel's shoulder. "I thought I'd lost you," he said softly, "When you hit the floor, and Adam started yelling… I thought you were gone." A gentle smile stretched across his lips, "I can't tell you how glad I am that you're not, though."

"Like I've said before, you can't get rid of me that easy, Samshine." Gabriel winked, snuggling into Sam's embrace.

Just then, a persistent knocking at the door alerted them of Lucifer's arrival.

Sam looked up, "Dean!" he yelled, "get the door, it's Luce!"

"Ya know," Gabriel cocked a brow, chuckling little, "the way you address my brother, I'd almost guess you guys were friends; almost."

Sam shrugged and tucked his head back down, "It's easier to say than spouting out his whole name," he mumbled into Gabriel's shoulder.

Dean ducked out of the kitchen and made his way to the door, letting a terribly anxious Lucifer inside. "Your brother's in the hallway, I think he's awake."

Sure enough, Gabriel's older brother was standing before them in seconds.

"Hey, bro." Gabriel gave him a nervous smile, nudging Sam as inconspicuously as he could manage, seeking some aid getting to his feet.

Sam assisted as best he could, his arms still curled around Gabriel's torso.

"What happened?" Lucifer seemed adamant about knowing, although, he was much more at ease now, seeing as Gabriel was conscious and seemingly all right.

"There was some tension at dinner," John stepped around the corner, startling Sam, "I said some things that, well, they came out all wrong, and I guess it stressed your brother out." He chuckled humorlessly, "I'm afraid I've never been a very eloquent man."

Lucifer was just as surprised at John presence as Sam, and he turned face the newcomer, listening without interruption. When John finished, Lucifer simply nodded, "Not many people are aware of the delicacy of my brother's condition, I'm sure it was no more than a misunderstanding." If he was angry, he was certainly managing it well; in fact, it was difficult to detect exactly what emotion Lucifer was expressing, if any.

Sam's eyes darted back and forth between Lucifer and John before he finally spoke, "He woke up just a minute ago, and I gave him his Vasotec. I explained things to my father...after the fact."

Gabriel grumbled at them all, obviously displeased, "Um, yeah, guys, you know I'm right here; I can hear you." He squirmed uncomfortably; if there was one thing Gabriel hated most, it was when people talked about his problems in front of him.

Naturally, Lucifer ignored his younger brother, turning to Sam. "I'm sorry if he gave you a scare, Sam."

Sam tightened his arms around Gabriel. "I'm sorry," he murmured into Gabriel's ear first, and then, he looked up at Lucifer, "It's…fine now." He didn't know what to say, didn't know how to proceed, so he blurted the first thing that came into his mind, "I'm not leaving him." Then, he blushed.

Lucifer's eyes softened ever so slightly, "I...I wasn't expecting you to." The side of his lips twitched in a smile.

Gabriel looked down, chewing his lip.

"I mean it," Sam said, voice a little stronger, "not today, not ever."


End file.
